Exciting news—your candidate has accepted your client’s offer, and you now have a start date! However, the challenge arises when you realize there’s a significant chance your team won’t meet the client’s onboarding deadline—a common issue in the healthcare staffing industry.
The onboarding process for clinical travelers is intricate, and getting it right is crucial for the success of healthcare staffing firms. Streamlining onboarding times involves focusing on two key factors.
Onboarding starts before offer acceptance
The relationship between the front office and the back office is critical. Often, front office teams, including recruiters and sales, lack a complete understanding of the internal credentialing process. Additionally, the requirements of clients, regulatory bodies, and the state where the job is located are not well-understood across the team. While recruiters and sales teams shouldn’t be experts in credentialing and compliance, they should have a solid understanding of the back-office processes.
For instance, if a salesperson is onboarding a new client, they should know enough about the internal back-office process to determine early on whether meeting the client’s needs will be easy or challenging. Similarly, recruiters speaking to potential candidates should be aware of client requirements to initiate the “credentialing” conversation early. This is crucial because some requirements, such as certifications and experience, are time-consuming. Failing to align with these requirements can result in wasted time and frustration.
Accepting that onboarding begins with the first conversations between the organization and the client or candidate sets your organization apart and establishes the foundation for a more seamless and positive experience.
Taking the time to plan for expectations is essential
In healthcare staffing, this means understanding client, facility, state, and accreditation requirements. Planning is essential, as it may involve collecting over 30 requirements for just one traveler. Establishing a solid process with collaboration between sales and credentialing teams is the first step. Considerations include:
- The process for collecting requirements.
- Where requirements are stored.
- Responsibilities for collecting and maintaining these requirements.
- Communication of requirements to candidates.
- Handoff processes between Sales, Recruiting, Credentialing, and Payroll.
- Training and resources for team members.
- Setting goals, SLAs, and measuring throughput.
- System and vendor considerations.
Prioritizing these two key areas will eventually lead to a “plug and play” effect in your process, resulting in a clear understanding of requirements, better communication, faster initiation of the credentialing process, and increased satisfaction for both clients and clinicians. In this competitive industry, improving the onboarding experience will elevate your organization as the top choice for future needs.
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