This content is sponsored by SkillSurvey
The industry trend toward healthcare consolidation has transformed many hospitals from solitary organizations into expansive healthcare networks offering a wide range of patient care services. This means human resources and medical staff services personnel are tasked with filling an increasing number of clinical positions while ensuring compliance with changing certification standards and medical board requirements enforced by state governments.
Soft skills gain new significance
As Medicare dollars have been tied to HCAHPS scores, a measurement of patient experience, and consumer-driven plans have taken hold, soft skills such as communication and empathy are all the more valuable to healthcare recruiters when scouting clinical talent. Recruiters’ top three sought-for attributes in physician candidates include a team-oriented attitude (78 percent), a clear motivation by quality incentives (68 percent) and an evidence-based approach to medical care (60 percent), according to a 2012 Medicus survey.
“Where once [healthcare] recruiters focused on a physician’s pedigree such as what schools they attended, their residency programs or their ability to manage a large volume of patients, today’s hiring process is also centered around how you assess for good people skills,” says Ray Bixler, president and CEO of technology firm SkillSurvey.
The hiring process becomes high tech
The challenges of physician recruitment are compounded by the ongoing U.S. physician shortage, which will reach 20,000 providers by 2020, according to HHS estimates. At the same time, the demand for healthcare services is predicted to swell in the next 10 years as an aging baby boomer population drives patient volume upward. The number of Americans age 65 and up is expected to be twice what it was in 2000 by 2030, according to Pew Research Center.
The difficulty of obtaining new physician talent means hospital systems cannot risk poor clinician retention. Physicians’ decisions to accept employment or leave their jobs are directly influenced by their level of engagement, according to a 2014 survey by Cejka Search. Successful retention depends on making the right hiring decisions combined with strong engagement throughout the physician career cycle, starting with recruitment and onboarding.
With physicians in high demand, hospitals’ recruitment and credentialing teams must adopt new strategies to attract the best talent and meet evolving organizational needs.
On the recruiting side, online reference checking can have a dramatic impact, providing ease of use, plus a structured format for detailed feedback from five references typically in less than two days. One physician recruiter had this to say of the process:
“Previously I was able to go back to my hiring managers with a list of who the references were and very basic information. Now I can deliver a whole report with quantitative and qualitative details about what a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses are. This is very powerful in the decision-making process, and also has implications for our longer-term development strategy.”
“Using Pre-Hire 360 allows me to get qualified candidates scheduled more quickly, and ultimately to plan more effective site visits. Overall, I’ve been scheduling more visits with the best candidates.”
As an added bonus, the process offers a terrific branding opportunity as references can be invited to join your organization’s talent pool providing a high-quality source of potential job candidates.
Sophisticated analytics technology can also improve retention by helping recruiters find the best suited candidate for hospital culture. Clients who used SkillSurvey’s online reference checking solution recorded a 35 percent reduction, on average, in first-year turnover rates. “We’ve been able to study post-hire results and have found that use of Pre-Hire 360 delivers reduced turnover and better post-hire performance,” Mr. Bixler says.
Credentialing shifts to a more engaging experience
In a competitive talent market, the hiring and credentialing process significantly influences physicians’ perceptions of operations and the institution more broadly.
The traditional credentialing process typically requires physician candidates to complete dense paper applications by hand and submit relevant documentation to the medical staff office (MSO) via fax, snail mail or email if they can scan their documents. The documents are then uploaded into a credentialing database and reviewed manually by MSO staff. As part of the application process, hospital staff also request references from multiple professional sources, which involves more steps for the physician — downloading, printing and filling out reference documents, then uploading them and sending the documents back to credentialing staff. Oftentimes a drawn out back-and-forth correspondence develops between the physician applicant, peers and the credentialer to correct inaccuracies and request outstanding information. This process is time consuming and often frustrating for both ends, but also a critical one to the facility.
Mr. Bixler noted three primary setbacks with the current process.
1. Manual processes can delay credentialing and hurt physician satisfaction
Disparate documentation, lack of process standardization and lack of coordination between medical staff services divisions can lead to delays in physician onboarding. A survey of nearly 500 healthcare leaders found 67 percent of credentialing processes for a single physician took between five and six weeks to complete, according to SkillSurvey’s research. By using automated processes to complete credentialing, hospitals could reduce their credentialing time by nearly 50 percent, SkillSurvey found.
Since it is often the first official interaction between an employer and new employee, the onboarding and credentialing process can significantly influence physicians’ professional satisfaction. But many hospitals struggle to make onboarding and credentialing pleasant and efficient. About one in three physicians reported a poor credentialing experience, according to SkillSurvey’s research. Automation tools that support a streamlined credentialing process with fewer hurdles can help hospitals make newly hired physicians’ first experiences with the organization positive ones.
2. Long credentialing timeframes are costly
Inefficient credentialing can hurt hospital revenue cycle functions. Human resources may complete the hiring process before credentialing is approved. When this happens, physicians can begin earning a salary but are prevented from treating patients and generating revenue for the facility. A hired but sidelined physician can cost a hospital up to $30,000 on average per week, according to SkillSurvey’s research. Improved credentialing timeframes achieved through automated processes can help organizations capitalize on physician-generated revenue sooner and decrease financial waste.
3. Lack of standardization can heighten hospitals’ compliance risk
Medical board rules and requirements vary from state to state, making it extremely difficult to hold physician applicants from different parts of the country to a single set of credentialing standards. Incorrectly or poorly managed credentialing and enrollment processes put hospitals at risk for compliance violations and even liability of a false claim. There is increased compliance and liability risk due to incomplete or contradicting documentation. More than half of U.S. states recognize negligent credentialing as a reason for litigation against hospitals, according to the Physician Insurance Agency of Massachusetts (PIAM) bulletin on malpractice.
Advanced cloud-based tools can resolve credentialing woes
While online reference checking has gained momentum in the past decade, hospitals are beginning to realize the value of partnering with human resources IT companies like SkillSurvey to support their credentialing and recruitment personnel. Automated technology that enables MSOs to standardize credentialing processes can help hospitals improve resource allocation and mitigate compliance risk.
“The best [health] systems recognize their hiring processes need to be thought out and efficient and enjoyable, and they are investing dollars to make sure they are, ” Mr. Bixler says.
Mr. Bixler recommends hospitals invest in IT infrastructure with the following four capabilities to meet changing recruiting and credentialing demands.
1. Mobile-first. A mobile-first platform means that peer references, third-party verification sources, credentialing teams and department chairs and committee members can review data presented in a dashboard that can be accessed from a smartphone, tablet, laptop and similar devices. For example, physician review staff can access a secure dashboard that lets them conveniently review credentials files and make membership and privileging recommendations on-the-go.
Using Credential OnDemand, SkillSurvey’s mobile-first platform, clients saw peer reference responses returned in three days. Hospital recruiting staff obtained more thorough, high-quality responses from references because the process is digital, easy to complete and uses hard-stops to ensure submitted forms aren’t missing critical information.
“Investing in [credentialing] technology and services that generate faster and more robust responses will have an impact on the quality of information received as well as reducing the turnaround time for the privileging process,” says Jacqueline Lam, director of medical staff services at Mineola, N.Y.-based Winthrop University Hospital, a client of SkillSurvey.
2. Real-time access to insights and data. References and applicant data are uploaded directly into the platform and available to credentialing staff immediately. Reviewers have the information to prioritize potential candidates faster, automatic reminders can be sent for missing information and reviewers can see potential red flags and issues as they are being resolved.
3. Cloud-based. Utilizing the benefits of the cloud, an enterprisewide credentialing platform enables hospital credentialing and privileging staff, medical providers and administrators to access provider data at any time and in any location and see data updates. This eliminates opportunities for duplication, standardizes documentation processes and enhances collaboration between medical staff services divisions.
“Resources from IT, finance, risk management and human resources all need to work closely with medical staff and provider enrollment in order to coordinate a smooth transition with minimal to no loss of revenue,” says Ms. Lam.
4. Cultivates engagement. Hospital systems can support physician retention by using sophisticated credentialing technology to make a complex process less cumbersome and more convenient for applicants and those seeking reappointments or changes to their privileges. This puts hospitals and physicians on good terms as they begin and continue their professional relationship.
Conclusion
Quality credentialing is a team sport that requires all parts of the MSO working in unison. Updating antiquated, paper-based credentialing procedures with automated, mobile-first capabilities can improve process inefficiency, diminish compliance risk, enhance cash-flow and strengthen clinician retention.
“Credentialing is a highly fragmented process yearning for an enterprisewide solution,” Mr. Bixler says. “Advanced technology can help steressed and pressed teams focus on what really matters — hiring high-quality physicians who deliver great patient care.”
