It”™s not an easy time to be a health care recruitment professional. With Obamacare on the horizon and changes in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, health care organizations are slimming down, the jobs that are available are highly specialized, and since many people who might have retired are not because of the economy, it”™s tough for young people to get started. And how good you are at making money is almost as important as how good a clinician you are.
That”™s the assessment of Laura Schachter, president of Professional Placement Associates of Purchase, who has owned the company since 1974.
“We work with hospitals, nursing homes, physician practices, managed care companies and academic officials,” said Schachter, “and three hospitals in Westchester. People are looking for very specific backgrounds in what they seek and putting money into positions where it will enhance the organization”™s ability to make money and save money.”
Public hospitals, especially, are trying to save money, she said. “Westchester Medical Center has laid off a lot of people. And some public hospitals are starting to privatize certain departments so people are not on their benefit package, in areas such as food service and housekeeping. And the benefits of course are not as good.”
Organizations are trying to develop specialty areas to distinguish themselves, Schachter said, and “that makes jobs harder to fill. There are specialties and subspecialties, very specialized niches. Perioperative ”“ anybody involved with the operating room ”“ is big. Transplant specialists, open heart specialists.” And as is often the case during troubled times for the labor market, the job openings and those looking for work do not match up. “It”™s hard to find people for those jobs, but if a new nursing grad comes to me I have to say I can”™t help.” She said that”™s because a lot of nurses were set to retire, but then the economy tanked, and they”™re still working.
On the other hand, she said, there”™s a lot of work dealing with managed care ”“ especially Medicare Advantage plans and managed long-term care programs. “And it”™s hard to find people to fill those jobs.”
Schachter also talked about how doctors jobs are changing.
“Hospitals are buying physician practices. For the hospital it gives them access to all the patients and the doctors are compensated for funneling patients to hospitals. The hospitals do the billing,” so the practice doesn”™t have to worry about that, she said. Not only that, but as would be obvious to anyone who has seen a doctor recently, practices are getting bigger. “They get much better rates from managed care. A small practice doesn”™t have a person devoted to making sure the practice is getting the best rate it can from insurance. Hospitals have much more clout on managed care rates.” She gave WESTMED as an example. “Doctors come in there and get reimbursed more for their services.”
And the life of the doctor and the patient has changed dramatically. “Doctors work Monday to Friday now, no weekends,” she said. “There are hospitalists to see people in the hospital. Your own doctor doesn”™t see you in the hospital.”
