According to NSI Nursing Solutions’ survey of 400 U.S. hospitals, a staggering 1.13 million employees left their hospital positions in 2023. With the overall healthcare employment outlook projected to grow much faster than other industries, filling open positions can be daunting for human resource (HR) and compliance professionals who do not use healthcare onboarding software.

Once you’ve found quality candidates to fill gaps caused by turnover and growth, each new hire must complete 54 tasks during their onboarding process, which takes an average of 24 days. It’s no wonder HR professionals like you dread hearing an employee is leaving.

In this article, I’ll share why organizations use healthcare onboarding software to streamline their new hire processes and what to look for in an automated solution.

See how much time you could save with healthcare onboarding software.

Healthcare Onboarding Software Is a Game-Changer

You might remember the old way new employees were brought into healthcare organizations. There was paper—a lot of paper. New hires were required to complete extensive paperwork by hand, including employment forms, policy reviews, and license submissions. This process was time-consuming and prone to errors, leading to delays in onboarding new employees. Orientation and training were done in person during lengthy and repetitive sessions with different departments.

Today, the game has changed. Many organizations are discovering how healthcare onboarding software, designed for healthcare’s unique staffing challenges, can simplify this process in just one click. Onboarding software can replace and enhance existing HR and training solutions with its built-in workflows that automatically assign new-hire documents for completion, policy acknowledgments, and online compliance training. With these tedious tasks out of the way, employees can start working from day one. A healthcare-specific solution may even include credentialing within the same platform so you can quickly enroll new providers with payers and bring in much-needed revenue.

For HR and compliance professionals, healthcare onboarding software helps save an average of 4 hours per new hire, or about 21.5 weeks a year! That means less effort on administrative tasks and reporting and more time focused on higher priorities.

What You Should Look for in Healthcare Onboarding Software

When selecting healthcare onboarding software, prioritize solutions specifically designed for the healthcare industry. Healthcare-focused systems are better equipped to handle the sector’s unique challenges and requirements. Additionally, consider the level of customer support provided, as a savvy customer success team can make the transition to new software much smoother. Several key features you should look for:

User-Friendly Interface

New-hire onboarding shouldn’t be an arduous and complicated process. It’s important to choose software with an intuitive, easy-to-use interface for administrators and new hires. A user-friendly interface breaks requirements into manageable, easy-to-understand tasks and allows new employees to navigate the onboarding process with fewer errors. This streamlined approach cuts the time employees spend in front of a computer by making it simple for users to access and complete their training modules. New employees can quickly complete compliance requirements while HR collects and tracks all necessary certifications, licenses, and credentials. 

Automated Task Assignments and Reminders

Automation greatly reduces the amount of time it takes to onboard every new employee. Simply by adding a new employee, your onboarding software, required training, safety plans, and policy acknowledgments are automatically assigned by role, department, and location. The new employee will receive automated reminders to complete the course before the deadline you’ve set. The software also automatically issues and stores course completion certificates within the employee’s profile.

Customizable Onboarding Workflows

Since there’s no one-size-fits-all training package for healthcare employees, training and procedures must be assigned by role, responsibilities, location, department, and specialty. This can be tedious and error-prone when done manually. An automated, customizable onboarding workflow digitally assigns training, policies, and safety plans based on the new employee’s role, department, and location. 

Integration Capabilities

Your organization likely uses a human resource information system (HRIS) to manage and automate payroll, time tracking, and employee benefits administration. Integrating your HRIS or payroll system with automated new-hire onboarding software allows you to customize onboarding workflows that are automatically implemented when a new hire is added to your HRIS system. This helps employees to be ready to work on day one instead of spending their first week on these tasks.

Mobile Accessibility

Using mobile-friendly healthcare onboarding software allows new hires to complete tasks on the go, which is particularly useful for healthcare professionals with irregular schedules or who work from remote areas.

Real-Time Reporting and Analytics

Look for software that provides insights into onboarding progress, completion rates, and other key metrics to easily analyze compliance information and generate comprehensive reports that empower executives and governing boards to make data-driven business decisions. It’s easy to remain survey-ready with real-time information and dashboards at your fingertips. Customized and scheduled reports show who has – and has not – acknowledged policies, when revisions are made, document creation and modification dates, and more for all files in the system.

WEBINAR: Adapting To Overcome Healthcare Staff Turnover

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Streamlined Healthcare Onboarding Processes With Software

The healthcare onboarding software you choose should streamline processes, support compliance, and provide a positive experience for new hires and HR professionals. I can’t stress that software must be healthcare-focused and backed by experts who stay on top of the latest rules, regulations, and standards that impact compliance training and policy management.

MedTrainer’s all-in-one compliance platform offers one-click new hire onboarding functions that reduce HR and compliance workloads while easing the task burden on incoming employees. Request a demo to learn how MedTrainer can replace multiple-point solutions and help combat staff turnover.