Healthcare worker shortage impacts marketing spend allocations

While clinical care support staff shortages will abate as COVID subsides, nursing shortages continue to significantly impact the healthcare landscape. At the same time, people who have delayed their care due to COVID seek to re-engage with their healthcare providers for both preventative care and elective treatment, adding strain to an already overburdened system. This causes patient care backlogs and reduce positive outcomes for many.

“A portion of marketing dollars needs to shift from generating appointments to enhancing patient experience, as well as to recruiting nursing staff.” Sean Folan, SVP Cronin Health

This will involve identifying ways to treat patients more efficiently through even greater use of telemedicine, involvement of non-RN care staff, improved patient throughput processes, and improved communication with patients throughout their care journeys.

This also means thinking differently about recruiting to find creative ways to effectively attract the most talented employees.

Consider approaching your recruitment efforts as you would approach your marketing plan.

For example:

• Assess your target audience beyond demographics and determine which messages most resonate with them
• Create engaging and meaningful communications to connect to your future employees and that speak to their biggest employment desires
• Test and learn as you introduce messages to recruits
• Think of new ways to reach recruits that go beyond job boards and events

Looking for inspiration? Learn about the successful recruiting work we did for Visiting Nurse and Hospice of Vermont and New Hampshire and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.