Healthcare is an evolving system. Post-pandemic, the system has expanded to a larger scale, normalizing digital care practices while improving a number of existing offerings.
Like all industries, the healthcare system as a whole faced major setbacks with the rise of COVID-19, reporting a significant increase in horizontal consolidation within the industry. Despite these consolidations, the quality of care remained largely the same, as a growing need for digital care and home health staff moved its way up on the priority list.
With a shortage of staff and an increasing expectation of quality care, certain trends emerged that are still shaping the healthcare landscape of today– ones that will continue to impact hiring managers in the healthcare industry for the foreseeable future.
Let’s take a look at some of these trends.
1. Greater Demand for Telehealth Professionals
Telehealth is a relatively new practice that had a significant impact during the pandemic, as many patients could not physically enter hospitals and doctor offices. Telehealth is virtual healthcare where patients receive online care from their healthcare provider from their laptop, phone, or tablet. The impact of Telehealth is significant, with an increase in Telehealth professionals rising to an average of nearly 30% over the past five years. Telehealth offers a broader range of coverage for Americans and has proved key in the modernization of healthcare.
As preferences continue to shift from conventional healthcare to Telehealth, we begin to notice that more individuals are opting to take advantage of healthcare offerings. Thus, increasing the demand for healthcare professionals.
2. Increase of Mental Health Specialists
The rate of anxiety and depression has continued to increase steadily since the pandemic, especially among children and young adults. With the rise of this mental health crisis, there is a need for mental health specialists, prompting growth in hiring within the psychology and psychiatry fields.
Interestingly enough, the need for mental care, in many regards, continues to grow as we move further away from 2020. Attention deficit disorders, depression, and anxiety diagnoses are following upward trends, which means an increase in regular visits as well as an increase in prescriptions.
While this uptick in mental healthcare demand carries hiring implications outside of hospitals and clinics alone, mental health professionals are certainly the focal point.
3. Rise of Geriatric Care Professionals
The baby boomer generation consists of 75 million people in the U.S.— nearly 25 percent of the population. As the baby boomer generation retires, the need for senior care increases. The current job status of senior care is nearly 300,000 below the pre-pandemic level. All things considered, this is a very low supply.
Pay increases have been offered to professionals as workloads have begun to increase. However, in the years to come, demand will only grow, creating a pressing need for nationwide senior care providers.
This prediction should become a reality within the next 5-10 years.
4. Newfound Emphasis on Soft Skills
Soft skills have always been vital in hiring, especially in the healthcare industry. However, employers have a renewed focus on these skills to further the quality of care that patients receive. Employees with strong, soft skills such as empathy, communication, adaptability, and compassion are especially sought after.
This emphasis on soft skills in candidates also goes hand in hand with the shift towards value-based care rather than service volume. Value-based care centers more on individual patients and their needs rather than serving as many patients as possible. These factors contribute to the patient’s overall satisfaction and are evidence of the new shift in more significant interpersonal interactions within healthcare.
A focus on soft skills has placed more responsibility on hiring managers– prompting a closer look into pre-hire practices. As attitude and character become more important, healthcare screening and candidate interviewing becomes more intentional.
However, with a supply of professionals that still sits well below the line of need, this focus on quality is an interesting one. If more healthcare professionals don’t enter the workforce in the coming years, we may encounter a problem.
5. Pay Transparency
The pandemic illustrated the importance of our healthcare system in a time of emergency. The fruits of this realization largely came in the form of monetary incentives for the medical workforce. Despite this, workloads have proved very demanding for existing staff.
The rate of burnout and high turnover has increased, leading to a negative correlation with patient satisfaction. Pay transparency has continued to increase to combat burnout and ensure employee loyalty. Transparent pay attracts new employees and creates a positive and supportive work environment. It also minimizes pay gaps leading to greater inclusion. The shift in pay transparency has been positive and will soon be normalized within the healthcare industry– a thing that may prompt a rise in active professionals in the field.
Conclusion
In the context of hiring, the changes and trends in healthcare are particularly impactful. The healthcare system post-pandemic will remain impaired, but many of the changes wrought by the pandemic have positively impacted both healthcare professionals and patients.
A shift towards value care has led to prioritizing patient comfort, therefore increasing the use of technology within the healthcare system and a greater emphasis on soft skills. Healthcare professionals have also benefited from these shifts as there is greater pay transparency, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace.
However, there are challenges ahead for hiring managers within the industry. There will be a greater expectation of quality and quantity at a time when demand will likely be low. Navigating these waters will require advanced screening practices and intentional hiring strategies.
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