Remembering the Patient Voice in Healthcare Talent
In a competitive hiring market, it can be easy to overlook the people at the heart of healthcare.
By Amelia Seraiah, New Business Development, Global Solutions, KellyOCG
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released their Employment Projections for 2018 to 2028, highlighting healthcare as the fastest-growing industry in the US. Healthcare jobs made up six of the ten fastest-growing occupations and 18 of the top 30. This continued expansion is driven by a number of societal factors, with a 2019 report from Deloitte on US and Global Healthcare citing aging and growing populations, the prevalence of chronic diseases, and advances in innovative technology as drivers for healthcare demand and expenditure. With healthcare roles on the rise, it’s little wonder that healthcare employers are driven to find new ways to connect with the talent they need. The focus on attracting, retaining, and discovering healthcare talent has never been more important to long-term success.
However, despite growing pressure on healthcare organizations to boost their people numbers, it’s important to remember just why healthcare matters so much to the world we live in. It’s the people – the doctors, nurses, healthcare providers – and ultimately the patients we serve that are crucial to why we do what we do. If talent strategy and implementation is not built around delivering patient value, it fails.
The Trend for Value-Based Healthcare is Growing
Value-based healthcare is a steadily gaining traction throughout the healthcare industry as physicians, healthcare workers, and patient groups advocate for greater focus on patient needs. A 2018 report from mHealth Connections explored the growing use of technology to drive a patient-centric care system, highlighting the connectivity of our everyday lives as a model for how patient care can be transformed. While Susan Dosreis from the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy recently outlined the key factors in their journey to improve patient experience in an article, she explains:
“Our work has led us to develop a novel set of patient-driven value elements, including the impact of a treatment on the family, and the impact of treatment on physical abilities, the ability to maintain social relationships and take part in social activities, and the ability to plan for the future.”
The future of healthcare is a patient-first model with the potential to transform processes and care settings, but how does this translate to talent? And how can organizations optimize their talent strategy to deliver on patient value?
Patient-First Recruitment
Patient-first recruitment is a model whereby hiring solutions focus on the patients’ preferences for coordinated, customized, and accessible healthcare. Talent is recruited in ways that help patients to achieve their care preferences. This process starts with recruiting healthcare professionals who are committed to hearing the patient voice and supporting initiatives for tailored care. It can be further underpinned by data collection and analysis. Through data collected from patients before, during, and after their care, healthcare practitioners and organizations can gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a patient and how services can be adapted to meet patient needs. Data can be used to analyze behavioral patterns, risk factors, and even to support the diagnostic process. This data can support the types of healthcare professionals organisations recruit and influence how they deploy talent to effectively care for patients. It can promote a wider shift to care being provided in the home versus in a clinic.
Clinical outcome trends show that patients’ overall wellness and satisfaction increase when patients are able to have a voice in where and how they receive treatment. Virtual healthcare options such as AI and telehealth allow patients to receive care in a familiar and comfortable environment while reducing costs for healthcare organizations. Kelly’s Talent Advisory Services help healthcare-related organizations identify, attract, and retain the talent they need to shift from a volume-based healthcare system to a value-based healthcare system.
What’s Next
It’s easy to see healthcare recruitment as a problem that needs to be solved in a talent-short market. A case of numbers and columns on a spreadsheet. However, this industry has a fundamental impact on how people live and the quality of that life. We all have a responsibility to dig a little deeper and think a little more carefully about how we approach talent in healthcare. By supporting value-based care we promote a sustainable healthcare future that is built around people.
To discuss this topic further with the author or to learn more about our life sciences and healthcare expertise, contact us today.