Telehealth has revolutionized the way we receive medical care. Instead of driving to a crowded clinic only to sit in the waiting room for an hour, you can now immediately connect with a doctor right from your couch with a few simple clicks. Telemedicine expands healthcare accessibility beyond geographical boundaries, enabling patients to access care from anywhere with an internet connection.
While telemedicine has been used for decades in niche areas, its utilization skyrocketed by 53% between 2016 and 2021, outpacing all other places of care. During the height of the global pandemic, telehealth became mainstream, with virtual visits being 78 times higher than office or outpatient visits in April 2020 than in February 2020. With more patients prioritizing convenience and speedy solutions, telehealth is now an integral part of our healthcare system.
But what does this mean for healthcare organizations?
The swift adoption of telemedicine has increased the demand for tech-savvy medical talent. However, healthcare organizations struggle to navigate complex regulatory requirements, find candidates with the right technological and soft skills, and manage remote teams.
Luckily, Hire Health’s telehealth recruiters provide the ideal solution. With a keen understanding of this sector's unique demands and challenges, Hire Health supports employers and candidates in finding the best match, ensuring that the future of telehealth remains strong, effective, and patient-centric.
Telemedicine bridges gaps in medical care, connecting rural and underserved populations to specialists who would otherwise be inaccessible.
It also elevates patient care by allowing providers to collaborate remotely, share real-time expertise, and improve decision-making. This, in turn, can boost job satisfaction and retention, making telemedicine a win-win for everyone. Patients have access to timely, high-quality care. Providers make better treatment decisions and reduce turnover. Remote healthcare hiring also opens the door to broader geographical talent pools, allowing organizations to expand their reach.
But despite all of these benefits, virtual healthcare recruitment isn’t without its drawbacks.
Some of the primary difficulties faced by healthcare organizations in telehealth recruitment include:
Telehealth services rely on technology. Candidates must have a deep technical proficiency, including in:
Recruitment efforts must prioritize candidates with a strong understanding of these technologies and digital communication skills. This ensures they can convey empathy virtually, make accurate assessments, and provide medical guidance through a screen.
Telemedicine is governed by local, state, and federal regulations, which can vary from region to region. Healthcare providers must ensure that their telehealth practices comply with laws related to patient privacy, like HIPAA, licensure requirements, and reimbursement policies.
Adhering to and understanding these laws is a significant recruitment obstacle, especially when dealing with professionals across multiple regions.
Telehealth enables healthcare professionals to work from anywhere with a stable internet connection. As such, much of the work can be done remotely.
While these flexible work models reduce burnout and support a healthier work-life balance, they also present unique challenges to employers. Healthcare organizations must ensure that their telehealth staff can work efficiently in a remote setting while maintaining the same standards of care.
Telemedicine is the new gold standard of patient care. Here are three practical tips organizations can use to rise to the occasion and obtain top-tier candidates.
Telehealth roles require much more than traditional medical licenses and qualifications. Candidates must also possess:
Healthcare organizations must adjust their hiring criteria to account for these skills. They can also conduct remote skills assessments to ensure candidates fit the bill.
Roughly 25 million households lack high-speed internet connections, particularly in underserved and isolated areas. This limits access to telehealth services and may affect recruitment efforts in these regions. Some candidates might not want to work in areas where technological barriers prevent them from providing quality virtual care.
Healthcare organizations must provide comprehensive training and infrastructure support to bridge this digital divide.
Many clinicians are drawn to telemedicine for its flexibility and better work-life balance. However, since most telehealth work can be done from home, employers must offer extra incentives to stand out from competitors.
These additional perks could be:
Not only do these incentives attract more candidates, but they can also improve retention.
The global telehealth market will be worth almost $550 billion by 2028. This creates new challenges and opportunities for healthcare organizations in the coming years, including:
Successfully adapting to the ever-changing telemedicine landscape requires partnering with seasoned, forward-thinking telehealth recruiters. Hire Health is uniquely positioned to help organizations remain agile. We leverage deep industry and compliance expertise, old-school methodologies, and new-world technologies to connect top telehealth talent with leading organizations nationwide.
Our telehealth talent solutions are tailored to meet your organization’s unique hiring preferences, ensuring we match you with best-fit candidates fast. Hire Health also leverages advanced AI recruitment tools and predictive analytics to screen and source skilled candidates swiftly and accurately.
Contact Hire Health today to learn how our RPO, executive search, and talent consulting solutions can prepare your organization for the future of telehealth.