Are Traditional Clinician Recruitment Practices, Using Non-Virtual Offline Approaches, Redundant in the Age of Web-Based Technology Platforms?

Abstract

The U.S. healthcare staffing market size is expected to reach $34.7 billion by 2030,
exhibiting a growth rate 5.6% from 2022 to 2030. The increasing geriatric population is
leading to a rising demand for medical services and a shortage of nurses and other medical
staff. Our society and the expanding population are living longer but becoming infirm and
getting sicker. Our population is experiencing higher rates of morbidity and lower rates of
mortality. The cost of temporary staffing is likely to drive the market in the coming years.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 19% growth in travel nursing. Clinicians must be
recruited to effectively care for an aging and sicker population. The demographics of such
a clinical force is younger and more technologically savvy and the past generations of
nursing and medical staff are now aging into retirement leading to a significant clinician
shortage and an ensuing problem for the healthcare staffing arena. Furthermore,
approximately five hundred thousand nurses plan to retire from the workforce over the
coming years. The Association of American Medical Colleges predicts there will be a
shortage of up to fifty-five thousand primary care physicians by 2032 leading to a crisis in
clinical staffing. The question being posed is whether healthcare systems are better served
using online platforms and dispensing of the older traditional approaches to clinician
recruitment such as offline non virtual, hard copy printed resources. This research uses a
combination of qualitative data collection (questionnaires) and quantitative data analysis
(scaling and scoring system) to ascertain the potential best approach for clinician
engagement and recruitment now and in future years. The results observed showed that
clinician candidates continue to rely on both virtual and non-virtual traditional approaches
as a mechanism for locating job opportunities and non-virtual platforms play an important
role in the clinician‟s due diligence and decision-making process. Thus, traditional
recruitment approaches are by no means a redundant resource in an age of web-based
technology.