By Jennifer Melham
Transformation has been a common theme in healthcare staffing over the last three years. That transformation continues with the integration and utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, which are being used to optimize various processes, systems, and functions. The healthcare staffing industry is no exception to this, with AI playing a role in the candidate screening and selection processes now and in the future.
Jason Lander, Medical Solutions’ EVP of Product and Services Innovation, recently spoke about this continuing evolution of AI and what he thinks the industry can expect to see going into 2024 and beyond.
Q: How Will AI Enablement Improve Candidate Screening and Selection?
You must look at how it’s managed now; it’s mostly handled by recruiters who ask a series of predetermined questions. This repetitive effort takes considerable time and effort that AI can help alleviate. More companies will likely utilize AI for at least part of the process, freeing their recruiters to focus on providing better customer service.
That said, human oversight remains a vital part of the process for accuracy and final decision-making for now. While AI will quickly match candidates to new jobs based on what these candidates are looking for, issues like bias and transparency must be considered.
Q: How Can AI Enablement Leverage Data to Make Informed Decisions in the Candidate Selection Process?
Generative AI can uncover patterns and trends through data analysis, providing recruitment insight into successful hiring strategies. It can help them identify factors contributing to employee performance and align them with job requirements. It can also help predict the perfect candidate for a role based on their resume, reviews, and online behavior.
Again, however, potential biases produced unintentionally by the technology must be considered. For example, if historical data reflects existing biases within an organization, such as gender or racial disparities, then AI or machine learning (ML) models could perpetuate these biases in the candidate selection process. The same can be said for analyzing behavioral traits; there is a risk of reinforcing existing cultural norms, preventing the diversity of candidates, and even opening the organization up to potential legal implications.
Addressing these challenges requires ongoing human oversight. Therefore, it’s still a good idea to include a human component in the candidate selection process today. This is also true for hospitals looking to incorporate AI technology into their internal staffing solutions.
Q: How Can Organizations Ensure Fairness and Diversity in an AI-Driven Recruitment Process
This will require a carefully crafted strategy and concerted effort on the organization’s part. First, they should prioritize diverse and representative datasets to train AI models, which have a higher potential to mitigate biases that may be unknowingly present in historical data. Involving a diverse group of stakeholders in the development and testing phases can also help ensure a broader perspective.
The right partner can help healthcare organizations with this, collaborating with you to ensure that your candidate selection process is designed to meet diversity and fairness standards. Ultimately, AI can speed up and more accurately achieve the main goal in healthcare staffing—matching the right clinicians with the right jobs. When done strategically, this can result in greater cost savings, increased revenue, and increased customer satisfaction for healthcare organizations of all sizes.
Reshaping Healthcare Staffing
Overall, AI will help ensure that the right clinicians are matched with the right jobs while allowing recruiters to focus on strategic decisions and higher-quality service. AI can transform the healthcare landscape, which organizations can use to recruit and retain staff, while human oversight remains a vital part of the process today.