The healthcare industry had to handle multiple crisis points throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and in the pandemic's aftermath. While many of the challenges were related to safety, costs, and logistics, a lot of HR-related challenges emerged to support the staff overseeing these broader issues. More healthcare personnel than ever before were facing burnout, and the employment policies regarding sick days, employer and employee requirements, and hiring new staff were continually changing. Workers at every stage of health care faced incredibly hard working conditions on the front lines, and HR staff also struggled to handle essential tasks.
But rather than trying to manage all their HR needs in-house, companies of all sizes can get help by outsourcing some of their critical but demanding HR tasks to establish more standardized, simplified management. Professional employer organizations (PEOs) can share the employment responsibilities of your healthcare team, keep your organization compliant with safety and workplace regulations, and shoulder the heavy workload of payroll and benefits management.
Let's learn more about the growing role of PEOs throughout the healthcare industry as we dive into how they can assist healthcare and medical entities to support their staff and patients.
Alongside the pandemic, the healthcare industry has itself been changing over the past several years to include more third-party services, niche organizations, and smaller healthcare companies. While extremely large healthcare organizations may manage in-house human resources functions, small businesses or independent practices face more severe challenges trying to maintain a full HR staff on top of services professionals, financing, and administrative teams.
PEOs can take on employer responsibilities such as onboarding, payroll management, benefits administration, and compliance management. Partnering with a PEO means you can focus your internal efforts on patient care and growing your business.
Here are five key pillars of how HR outsourcing through a PEO can help healthcare firms:
Human resources is a major administrative burden. Some of the essential and ongoing HR administration tasks that your business must account for include:
Each of these tasks can take hours every week or pay period. It takes staff time away from patient care, billing, and other operations, which also often require specialized knowledge. Mistakes in payroll, benefits administration, and compliance efforts can be incredibly costly to your organization. By outsourcing these tasks to a team of trained and certified professionals, you can have peace of mind and spend more time on core business needs. Then, your core HR team can focus more flexibly on growth and strategy.
Better employee benefits are a fundamental part of any strategy to attract and retain top talent. Unfortunately, many SMBs can't offer competitive benefits compared to larger hospital groups or government organizations. Because individual private businesses don't have a strong network for leveraging negotiations, the benefits programs you have access to might have more expensive premiums and inferior program options.
By partnering with a PEO, your organization joins a larger network of healthcare industry businesses. As part of a block of businesses, you have more negotiating power and can access more cost-effective rates, better coverage options, and more competitive retirement programs. That improves the total compensation package you can offer prospective applicants and current employees—leading to more retention and greater employee satisfaction.
Workers' compensation is an essential—but incredibly complex—part of human resources management. Depending on the size and location of your business, you may require different levels of workers' compensation insurance. You may also be required to provide different levels of signage, education, and training to minimize the risk of incidents and your organization's liability in any incidents.
PEOs can help you proactively handle workers' compensation issues to keep your organization compliant with local, state, and federal requirements. For example, they can ensure your coverage levels meet required minimums and, just like with employee benefits, negotiate to provide proper coverage at better prices. PEOs also manage claims, conduct risk management analyses, and handle internal audits.
Turnover rates in the healthcare industry are incredibly high, with annual turnover reaching as high as 65% for in-home care providers and 94% at nursing homes. That puts a lot of strain on organizations, as high turnover is bad for employee morale and disruptive for providing consistent services. Providing high-quality benefits is a start, but the recruitment process matters just as much.
PEOs have enterprise-level hiring, applicant management, and onboarding systems, which they provide their client with to help them identify the right employee market for your open positions. They can also streamline the hiring and onboarding phases to maximize engagement and success rates while giving employees what they need for a successful start in their new roles. Full-cycle recruitment management from PEOs gives you a more consistent talent pipeline.
Employer-based wellness programs are helpful tools for building up company culture and improving productivity. Your organization can create wellness program initiatives regarding smoking, healthy eating, exercise, work-life balance, stress management, or other wellness-oriented factors. By positively incentivizing healthier behaviors, you can create a stronger community and help your employees reach their goals.
However, wellness programs can be complex to organize from the inside. PEOs have more experience creating and managing wellness programs for positive results, and you can outsource the program to reap the benefits with minimal in-house costs or time commitments.
Good HR management is all about supporting your staff and protecting your organization. Working with a professional employer organization can help you manage both goals while simplifying costs, compliance concerns, and time commitments. Not only can you give your staff better benefits and improve employee well-being, but you can focus on your patients, customers, and business goals while knowing your HR obligations are being handled. Contact us today to learn more about how to transition to partnering with a PEO.