Trends in Healthcare Human Resources (Free HIPPA Compliance Checklist)

It’s often said that a company’s greatest asset is its employees, and this raises important healthcare HR challenges. In healthcare, this is especially pertinent. Without the incredible work and sacrifices made by doctors, nurses, and administrative staff, the quality of American healthcare would falter.

Creating an effective HR team is critical to managing human capital and ensuring patients get the best possible care. However, HR teams are under constant strain from a changing industry. Let’s run through the most significant HR challenges in healthcare and the trends influencing the industry.

Challenges and Trends Influencing Healthcare HR

American healthcare is under strain in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare spending is expected to reach nearly 20% of GDP by 2028, indicating an industry in crisis.

Although individual healthcare professionals and clinical facilities cannot do much about the macroeconomic view, they can make changes at home.

Employee Burnout

Burnout is the biggest of all the challenges in healthcare HR. It’s no secret that doctors and nurses work long hours in pressure-filled environments. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare professionals have been stretched to their breaking points. 48% of U.S. doctors reported burnout in 2020.

Numbers like this have remained relatively constant and apply to every healthcare professional. With HR responsible for helping to prevent burnout and ease the burden, this area requires fresh new approaches.

Staff Shortages

The Association of American Medical Colleges reveals that the country could face a shortage of up to 124,000 physicians by 2034. HR teams can start preparing for and anticipate staffing problems through cloud-based HR platforms to get real-time views of current and future staffing issues.

Additionally, HR must collaborate with other stakeholders to make their facility an attractive workplace, to help prevent costly turnover.

Digitization

The healthcare industry continues to pursue the digitization of records and workflows. HR has a massive influence on the speed and effectiveness of digitization, which can influence collaboration across every department and, ultimately, patient care quality.

This also means HR must provide support and guidance regarding compliance with regulations relating to patient privacy and data security in regard to medical records storage.

Workplace Safety

In most scenarios, poor patient safety is entirely unintentional. But if it results from a failure to follow procedures or low-quality employee training, this can fall on HR. Furthermore, workplace safety often relies on solving other HR challenges in healthcare, including:

  • Hiring
  • Staff training quality
  • Staff Shortages
  • Burnout
  • Overscheduling

The nature of the job itself also means employees are always at risk from lacerations, drug exposure, and chemical spills. There’s no silver bullet for this problem, but HR remains responsible for training, compliance, and oversight.

Did You Know

The total injury incidence rate is 34.1 per 1,000 healthcare workers, a rate significantly higher than other industries.

Training and Investing in Employees

As mentioned, HR must have a firm knowledge of industry guidelines while executing meaningful training plans for new employees. Every new hire must be thoroughly trained before settling into their new roles, and this is one of the most essential functions of healthcare HR management.

Additionally, HR must construct and maintain systems for ongoing functional training for employees in every role, including specialists.

Legal Compliance

Particularly pertinent to the healthcare sector, HR is responsible for governing data in line with the Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). HIPAA is the cornerstone of records management and compliance for healthcare businesses.

This includes data collection, storage, access, security, and more. Failure to do so could result in multi-million-dollar fines.

Although HR may not be responsible for designing and maintaining IT systems, they are responsible for creating a culture of compliance.

Workplace Culture and Morale

Culture isn’t just a buzzword. It’s what defines a workplace. Poor culture is toxic, and this could compromise patient care quality and safety in healthcare environments.

Human resource management in hospitals requires that professionals engage with employees to create a caring culture that filters down to patients. Proactive communication, acting on employee feedback, and improving the overall experience can tackle a range of problems, including:

  • Low morale
  • Staff turnover rates
  • Compliance
  • Hiring problems

Data Management

As in every sector, data is the dominant force. Healthcare organizations have never produced as much data as today. Failure to manage data correctly could open your organization to low productivity, cyberattacks, and non-compliance with general and industry-specific data protection laws.

Remember, records protection must balance providing easy access to relevant personnel and not leaving your organization vulnerable.

HR must collaborate with internal cybersecurity teams. Furthermore, let’s not forget that compliance in healthcare is highly laborious, requiring complex paperwork and potential oversight across multiple locations.

Download the Hybrid Records Management Checklist

Future HR Trends in Healthcare

Confronting HR challenges in healthcare requires innovative solutions. The most common hurdles to overcome have been constant for years, but although HR must take the time to address them, they must also keep an eye on emerging trends.

Awareness of relevant trends can enable HR teams and employers to stay on top of a changing industry to create world-class facilities that provide the highest quality patient care. So, what are the emerging HR trends to be aware of?

1.

People-Centric Culture

Culture is a prominent sticking point in every industry, but in healthcare, it’s non-negotiable. HR must act proactively on this issue to protect the health and well-being of employees, which may include flexible scheduling, fostering physical health, and providing access to mental health resources.

2.

Hybridization

The COVID-19 pandemic proved that a significant proportion of healthcare workers could do their jobs remotely. Although there has been some resistance from traditionally minded employers, an increasing number of workers are now going partially or fully remote, creating new challenges for HR teams in managing them and data.

3.

Diversity and Inclusion

There is a need to create more diverse and inclusive environments. HR teams must create an environment that eliminates bias, discrimination, and harassment to create a healthcare environment geared toward better patient outcomes. This is vital not only for compliance with the law but also to craft a culture that attracts and retains staff.

4.

Data for Decision-Making

Emerging technologies support HR teams in making more effective decisions. Algorithms and data enable HR teams to make fact-driven decisions rather than relying on gut feeling or existing biases.

5.

Employee Development

In today’s labor market, employees expect opportunities for professional development. It’s one of the keys to lowering turnover and preventing staffing shortages. Forward-thinking HR professionals seek opportunities to invest in development efforts via mentorship, formal training, and skills sessions.

6.

Automation

Legacy systems are a drag on efficiency. With the entry of automation into the mix, HR teams can transform outdated systems to manage patient information and keep the healthcare wheels turning. HR teams can help to modernize and embrace automation to free up HR professionals and make better decisions.

7.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI is already taking the world by storm and building upon previous automation efforts. Although AI is still in its infancy, 25% of organizations across industries already use AI for various HR activities. For example, AI can be used within recruiting and hiring systems to pinpoint suitable candidates.

8.

Increased Data Risk

Data is the cornerstone of healthcare, but it’s also extremely valuable due to the personal nature of patient data. So, it should come as no surprise that 2022 saw a 74% global year-on-year increase in cyberattacks. Understandably, healthcare CEOs are worried, making action all the more necessary in the form of HR.

9.

Tech-First Hiring Practices

Competing for talented staff is one of the top priorities for HR teams. Using technology, such as AI and automation, HR teams can shorten the hiring process and pinpoint the candidates that fit into their unique cultures.

The clear trend among trends is that technology is the way forward for confronting a range of the most common HR challenges in healthcare. However, as we saw with the slow uptake in digitization, the industry cannot afford to be equally slow this time around.

As we enter a new era of technology, it will take open-minded HR teams to push for the changes that must be made to confront everything from burned-out staff to increased data risks.

Conclusion

Confronting the HR challenges in the healthcare industry requires an ability to adapt using emerging technologies and acknowledging which way the wind is blowing regarding employee demands and new legislation.

In relation to the challenges of how your HR department uses data, you need a records management and storage system that allows for swift and easy access to data without compromising security.

At Corodata, we support California businesses by using a tech-first approach. To learn more about how Corodata can empower your healthcare organization to confront this challenge, contact the team today.

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