Guarantee Your Travelers Start On Time!

One of the most important and often hardest goals for any #HealthcareStaffing company is to ensure that clinical travelers start assignments on time.? This is crucial not only for the business but more importantly for patient care.

Unfortunately, there is a myriad of reasons why organizations struggle to meet this goal some include:

• Lack of technology
• Broken processes
• Miscommunication
• Noncommittal clinicians

…and so on.

However, although there are challenges during the onboarding process there are certain things that can be implemented that can almost guarantee a more positive expedited experience and increase your on time start rates!

A Robust Pre-Qualification Process

Several organizations already have some sort of prequalification in place as part of a submission process, but it is important to use prequalification not only as a mechanism for submission but also to predict if the clinician has a high probability of starting on the date specified by the client, if at all.

In general, the prequalification process normally includes the following:

1. Valid license in the state of assignment
2. Required years of experience based on specialty
3. Basic Certification (normally a BLS)

This is a great start and will get things going but making the below additions to the process can position your organization as the employer of choice!

1. Overall license check (looking for any adverse actions on all licenses)
2. Instant Searches
3. Skills Self-Assessment
4. Requirements based on the client’s job description like: additional years of experience and certifications (specialty specific and/or advanced)m.

On paper, this looks like more work upfront and may be a concern when trying to beat competitors to submission but adding these to your prequalification process increases your chances of landing the assignment because only candidates who truly qualify will get submitted.?

Additionally, you can avoid time consuming hiccups during the onboarding process due to “surprises”!?Making these additions may also help with identifying other job orders that the clinician may qualify for that may be a better fit. Prequalification is just the beginning.?

Communicate EARLY!

The onboarding process can be a daunting task for all involved but this is where clear communication is so important. The worst thing to do to a busy clinical traveler is expect them to complete last minute tasks before they can be cleared to start.? Most facilities have set requirements, so it is up to the staffing organization to make sure these requirements are communicated to the clinician early in the onboarding process.? This allows more time to complete tasks but also significantly decreases the stress level of the clinician and increases their positive experience, which can lead to higher retention!? And that's what we all want!!

Some things that should be communicated early (sometimes as early as the recruiting process) are:

1. Facility Orientation requirements: Are there facility modules that need to be completed?? Some facilities require up to 20 hours of education modules.? Consider informing clinicians during the recruiting process because this could help them determine whether they want to move forward with the application.
2. Medicals: Don’t assume that the clinician has what is needed.? For example, the clinician may have a current PPD skin test but perhaps the client requires a TB QuantiFERON Gold test.? It is better to know this early and communicate with the clinician to avoid unnecessary frustrations and delays.
3. Certifications: Are there higher level certifications needed for this assignment that may be time consuming and not easy to obtain during onboarding? It's better to know and communicate this early because it could lead to a cancelled assignment.
4. Facility Deadlines: The start date and file due date will most likely be different, so making the clinician aware of the facility deadlines early will make for a smoother process!

In a nutshell, starting on time is important and as a healthcare staffing organization it's important to constantly reassess HOW things are done because there is always an opportunity to improve...ALWAYS.

If you are struggling to meet start dates then consider looking at how your candidates are pre-qualified and how well you do with communicating what needs to be done.

Ok, so maybe even after doing this it's not a 100% guarantee, nothing is, but know that not assessing these two areas of your process can almost guarantee wasted time, delayed starts, increased cancellations, and unhappy clients, clinicians, and internal employees.

Check out my website for additional ways I can support your team during the onboarding process!