Healthcare institutions are facing an unprecedented staffing crisis, with recruitment costs soaring amid rising demand for services. With over 20.7% workforce turnover, as reported in the 2024 NSI National Healthcare Retention & RN Staffing Report, hospitals must balance fiscal constraints with maintaining quality patient care

As an organization can you manage these rising healthcare staffing costs without compromising patient care? Here’s MedCert Partner Solutions’ expert take on evaluating and lowering your recruitment expenses.

What is the Cost of Healthcare Staff Recruitment?

Hiring top healthcare talent isn’t cheap, especially with today’s staffing shortages and rising inflation. Recruitment can easily drain your budget without a proper staffing strategy. You can start by evaluating your cost-per-hire. 

According to the Society of Human Resources Management, you can determine the cost-per-hire by dividing the total hiring expenses (external + internal hiring costs) by the total number of new hires. 

The internal hiring costs include: 

• Compliance expenses that meet the cost of processing legal documents to enable a legally compliant recruitment process. 
• Administrative costs that support the recruitment process like office equipment, food, rent and accommodation. 
• Training and development expenses that cover the cost of re-skilling or up-skilling hiring staff with the latest talent acquisition certification program. 
• Hiring manager and recruitment staff costs which cover their salaries, benefits and performance bonuses.

Meanwhile, the external hiring expenses include:

• Background checks that establish whether a potential recruit is fit for employment. They include educational and criminal checks, credit checks, references, immigration status and eligibility to work.
• Pre-screening costs include tests, assessments and automated interviews that help determine whether a prospect meets the initial recruitment criteria.
• Marketing expenses that cover costs related to marketing efforts on job board postings, social networks and recruitment websites.
• Third-party expenses if you consider outsourcing the recruitment process to an external agency. 
• Technology expenses that are related to supporting recruitment technology like:
  • Applicant tracking systems
  • System maintenance
  • Infrastructure for processing application

How Can You Lower Staffing Costs in Healthcare?

There are several concrete steps you can take to reduce healthcare staffing costs and channel more funds toward improving patient outcomes. These measures include:

Focusing on Staff Retention

According to Gallup, replacing staff will cost your organization more than retaining them. You can improve staff retention by providing educational opportunities through upskilling or reskilling. Helping your employees advance in their careers improves job satisfaction while enhancing healthcare service delivery. You can also consider:

• Creating an inclusive work environment
• Communicating effectively
• Setting achievable job expectations
• Enabling staff members to forge social bonds
• Providing competitive compensation

Utilizing Employee Referrals

Implementing an employee referral program in your organization can be generally less costly than traditional recruitment methods. About half of the recommended recruits will likely remain with your company long-term. 

With referred prospects tending to be more successful, you can cut costs by skipping some steps in the recruitment process, bringing you closer to hiring.

Partnering With Education Institutions Like MedCerts

Embracing healthcare staffing and training collaborations with academic institutions like MedCerts can lower the recruitment cost. By partnering with us, you gain access to a pool of qualified talent that you can tap into through our medical apprenticeship programs. This allows you to nurture and later employ top recruits that seamlessly fit into your organization. 

You can also reskill or upskill your current employees with our carefully curated and up-to-date medical programs, promoting career advancement and satisfaction. Partner with us today to enjoy modern training solutions for your healthcare hiring needs.