Because the healthcare industry is one of the largest and fastest growing industries in the United States, as well as many nations across the globe, the role of human resource departments in the healthcare industry has grown drastically as well in the past decade. Despite of this growth, and in some cases because of it, human resource departments in the healthcare industry have run into some issues specific to the industry such as high turnover rates in employees, staff shortages, keeping up with compliance standards, an increase in patients, and much more.
Propitiously, there are already technologies available that could solve many of these issues. It may seem counterintuitive to suggest using technology to solve problems unique to the human resources aspect of the healthcare industry, but in reality there are many readily available and useful technologies that can resolve HR issues in the healthcare industry such as those listed earlier. Below is a list of some of these technologies that can improve human resources as well as explanations as to what problem in the healthcare industry that the specific technology aims to solve.
Employee Referral Programs
HR departments across many organizations in the healthcare industry deal with an unusually high turnover rate in employees. Many organizations choose to offer benefits for employee referrals to solve this issue. Rather than manually tracking employee referrals, computer software programs allows organizations maintain an automated employee referral program, which speeds up the hiring process while simplifying referrals for those tasked with the hiring of employees.
Application Tracking System (ATS)
Another similar technology that resolves issues with hiring in the healthcare industry is an application tracking system, or ATS, software program. Essentially, hiring managers can streamline the hiring process, allowing the program to narrow down candidates based on qualifications, keywords in resumes or cover letters, education, and more. Additionally, an ATS consolidates applications in one place, provides hiring managers opportunities to schedule interviews or send rejection letters, and even administer tests online to applicants. Not only does this technology simplify the hiring process, it can drastically decrease the amount of time and money spent by an HR department in hiring employee. In an industry that has a wide range of specialized jobs requiring specific qualifications, ATS programs can solve many of the issues associated with the hiring process in the healthcare industry.
Human Resource Management System (HRMS)
Having a HRMS software program can help in a variety of HR-specific categories such as payroll, benefits administration, tax compliance, employee hours and attendance, and more. Another issue that human resource departments in the healthcare industry have to deal with on a regular basis is compliance standards. The healthcare industry is highly regulated and organizations must stay up to date on the regulations that could affect their employees and patients such as the Affordable Care Act, HIPPA, and more. Many human resource management systems can ensure that HR departments are acting in compliance with these regulations and can easily report on compliance standards and pass audits.
HR Dashboards
This technology has become increasingly popular in healthcare organizations in order to understand and address the problem of staff shortages and the high turnover rate of employees. HR dashboards collect and present data and key performance indicators on an accessible and interactive screen. They can provide meaningful data to HR departments that can help them understand the needs of their employees as well as address issues specific to employees in the healthcare industry. Some of the popular dashboards that specialize in workforce data include Workday, Jobvite, and OfficeVibe. However, the human resources software industry is large and growing fast so there is a large variety of HR dashboards to choose from.
Conclusion
Overall, using software specific to human resources such as those listed above, as well as many others not listed here, is one of the best ways that an organization in the healthcare industry can address various problems in HR and stay up to date and organized on data relating to personnel.
