Healthcare Background Checks

Talent recruitment and retention remain among the top challenges facing healthcare organizations in the new decade. According to a SHRM survey, 46% of HR professionals rated highly skilled medical positions as very difficult to fill.

Healthcare providers, organizations, and facilities may find it challenging to meet patients’ changing expectations. However, they should not ignore the enormous influence that expectations can have on the patient experience.

Research has suggested that patient expectations can influence their satisfaction with their care and their perceptions of their own health. The more that healthcare providers and organizations can address patient expectations, the more likely they are to earn and keep their patients’ trust.

Each decade, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes an occupational outlook. It goes into great detail about each industry and occupation. Overall, the BLS expects total employment to increase by 20.5 million jobs between 2010 and 2020. While 88 percent of all occupations will experience growth, the fastest growth will occur in healthcare, personal care and social assistance, and construction.

While the healthcare industry has made substantial progress in patient safety over the past 20 years, there is still much work to be done in this vital facet of medical care.

Continuous background screening was recently named as a top employment screening trend for 2019 by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Greater numbers of employers are weighing the advantages of conducting post-hire screenings on their workforce. While the benefits of recurring background checks are compelling to employers, successful program adoption also rests on sensitivity around cultural impact.

As we kick off the New Year, here’s a look back at the most popular posts from the previous year. 2018 was a year with a heightened focus on compliance for employers as FCRA litigation ensues while the healthcare industry faces the ongoing challenges of a rapidly changing sector. Background check compliance, drug testing, workplace appreciation, and the Death Master File Search are all topics that were most popular among our readers in the past year.

The end of the year is often an opportune time for departments, including human resources, to reflect and take a hard look at daily operations. From retention to talent development and recognition to performance feedback, it’s important for HR to decide what processes are working, those that aren’t working, and how to address any red flags moving forward. 

To keep things simple, here are some of the latest HR issues to consider as you focus on improvements for a more efficient and successful new year.

For healthcare organizations facing a hyper-competitive market and an aging customer base that requires more care, contingent staffing, also known as supplemental staffing, can play an integral role in HR's strategic planning process as a means to acquire on-demand, qualified healthcare talent.

How does an employer know if their employees have been arrested or convicted of a crime while on the job? The truth is, unless employers run recurring criminal history checks post-hire, they simply won’t know. 

Although not a novel concept, the practice of continuous, constant background screening has recently gained momentum among employers.