tions when it comes to their staffing and training requirements. But it is, of course, the perfect
opportunity for dynamic staffing firms to meet
their needs and increase sales.
Cynthia Kinnas, president of the national health
care division at Clinical One, soon to be Randstad
Healthcare, agrees that this legislation-inspired
sector collision is a huge opportunity for staffing
firms—but stresses the partnership perspective.
“Our clients are facing major challenges sur-
rounding health care reform including account-
able care organizations and bundled payments,”
Kinnas explains. “We can expect that some of the
uncertainty and cost-cutting pressures our clients
are facing will be passed onto staffing firms.
As a partner, we must respond with solutions
to help them respond to these challenges. This
doesn’t mean simply slashing bill rates, which
would prevent the ability to deliver quality staff,
but more creative solutions—such as providing
current staff with the training and experience
they need now.”
An example of such a solution is an initiative
launched recently by the American Health Infor-
mation Management Association, an organization
of health information management profession-
als based in Chicago. AHIMA has rolled out
the Health Information Management Jobs for
America initiative, which aims to support employ-
ment and training opportunities for health care IT
professionals.
Part of the AHIMA initiative is based on a
partnership with HHS and North Shore Medical
Labs, based in Williston Park, NY, to train small
physician practices in Alabama, Mississippi, and
North Carolina. AHIMA also will provide health
care IT and electronic health record systems training at no cost to health care providers and staff in
underserved areas throughout the country.
Trend Spotting and Staffing
The growing need for staffing and training services in the health care IT field is clear,
and in recent months ASA member companies
have reported an increasing demand for talent
in this area. In response, ASA presented a targeted Webinar for its members in November that
focused on what they can expect and how they can
prepare. (See the “Staffing Smarts” box on this
page for details.)
Shannon Block, vice president of Medical Staffing Services based in East Brunswick, NJ, participated in the ASA Webinar. Given her years of
experience in the health care sector, she has intimate knowledge of how important it will be for
firms to meet the need for health care IT staffing
and training.
“It is up to us as staffing experts to prepare for
the challenges that lie before us regarding health
care IT,” says Block. “Together, we need to iden-
tify qualified and certified candidates, including
the newly trained candidates, so we can increase
the quality of our health care delivery system.”
ASA will continue to support its members
through various channels, says Kelly G. Verberg,
assistant vice president, membership and sec-
tions for the association, including Webi-
nars and other educational opportunities and
through its various publications. (In January,
ASA launched a new daily e-newsletter
called Staffing Today that regularly addresses
sector trends and issues.)
Staffing Smarts
ASA recently hosted a Webinar called, “New Business
Developments in Health Care IT Staffing: How to Reach Qualified Candidates.” The Webinar was free for ASA members, and members can still access
the presentation for free by logging into ASAPro—the ASA online professional
development center.
Visit
americanstaffing.net/asapro, log in using your member credentials,
and search for the Webinar’s title. Questions? Contact Emily Lawson, manager,
distance learning, at elawson@americanstaffing.net or 703-253-1145.
“Staffing firms will be much-needed partners as
health care provider organizations aim to meet federal deadlines and position themselves for growth
and success,” Verberg says. “In the end, it will be
the American consumer of health care services who
will experience the most important benefits.” n
Diana Mertz is senior manager, sections, for the American Staffing Association. Send your feedback on this
article to success@americanstaffing.net. Follow ASA on
Twitter @staffingtweets.
