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Credentialing.
The groan from staffing teams up and down the country was almost audible as I typed that word.
There’s no question that everyone recognizes the importance of credentialing, particularly in such a highly-skilled, high-stakes field as healthcare. It’s the only way that you can be sure your provider has the education, qualifications, and professional memberships necessary for the job at hand. But collecting and verifying this information remains the bane of many a staffing firm’s existence.
The endless procession of calls, emails, low-res images, and corrupted files. The reminder upon reminder sent to the healthcare professional, as the clock ominously ticks toward the deadline. It’s a process plagued with annoyance, frustration, and inefficiency.
But it needn’t be.
Self-service technology offers an alternate credentialing reality – one where the process is completed entirely by the provider in mere minutes and via an experience that borders on enjoyable.
The arguments for self-service mobile credentialing are many and varied, so let’s take a look at a handful of the most compelling reasons for healthcare professionals and your healthcare staffing firm.
A more engaging and streamlined provider experience
Credentialing is, at best, inefficient and, at worst, traumatic, not only for the staffing firm but also for the provider. It’s a process with endless lag, with one party forever waiting on an action from the other.
Meeting providers where they’re at on any device creates a better experience for the provider. And it gets even better with self-service mobile credentialing. First, it converts the process to a mobile-friendly application – native or responsive, there’s no wrong answer – all but removing clunky email chains and inconvenient phone calls. Second, it reduces the overhead and costs associated with credentialing for the staffing firm, complementing the process with instantly responsive AI. Thirdly, it can be gamified through things like green ticks and ‘percentage complete’ status bars, motivating providers to complete the process.
All this adds up to greater efficiency, higher completion rates, quicker turnarounds, and a far more pleasurable provider experience.
Mobile is the way the world is heading
Mobile devices already account for over half of the world’s web traffic, and that number is only set to rise. Mobile increasingly represents the path of least resistance. Provide your healthcare professionals with a mobile process to meet them where they’re at, and they’ll fly through it. The key to success is to ensure that it is not just mobile-friendly but mobile-responsive. If you achieve that, whether via a native (downloaded) or responsive (web browser) app, you’ll see error rates dramatically decrease and completion rates dramatically increase.
Most importantly, this is all something that providers want and expect. At this point in time, most find that their firms don’t offer mobile credentialing functionality, which is still a unique way to stand out.
Smartphones simplify the process of credentialing
Smartphones are modern Swiss army knives, packing a barely believable punch into something that fits snugly in your pocket. Arguably the most useful tool is the camera. While it may not be immediately apparent, this little feature is capable of doing so much more than just taking pictures of a beautiful landscape.
Combine a smartphone camera with self-service mobile credentialing, and you have a way to instantly capture and log licenses and certifications. Sprinkle in some automation technology, and you’re able to instantly verify the information on important and traditionally time-consuming documents, like section 2 of the I9.
No more scanning or faxing. No more barely legible images or missing attachments. You get all the information you need delivered instantly.
Self-service mobile credentialing is better for your business
Self-service mobile credentialing isn’t just better for the provider – it’s better for your firm. By taking care of the things that make your team groan, you free them up to concentrate on the more interesting and higher-value aspects of staffing – the things that can’t be automated. You’re also able to do more with less, scaling your reach and your business without the need to scale your team. Improving your credentialing process reduces costs, improves your standing with clients and VMS’s, and generates realized revenue sooner.
And you do all this while enhancing your provider experience and positioning yourself as a recruiter of choice in the process.
Self-service mobile credentialing is the inevitable future of healthcare staffing. Whether you take the opportunity to be an early adopter now or hold off and get forced to play catch-up later is entirely up to you. Being an early adopter allows you to be a pioneer and stand out from the competition to win more providers with a better experience and more business for your healthcare staffing firm.
