Whether you’re seeking a job as a physician’s assistant, nurse, physical therapist, laboratory technician or other healthcare professional, it’s important to avoid making mistakes on your resume.  After all, recruiters use your resume as a quick screening tool, and you don’t want to be dropped into the “no” basket.

First of all, be sure to include your current contact information (phone, email, address) at the top of your resume.  That sounds simple, but it’s surprising how many job-seekers “recycle” older resumes after they’ve moved or changed cell phone numbers.

Be sure your resume highlights your career accomplishments, health-related skills and educational background.  Make it easy for the recruiter to check your credentials by including specific information on any state licenses or professional certifications.  Many candidates wonder whether or not to include personal or professional references on a resume.  Generally, the best approach is to say “references available on request,” unless you’ve earned the support of a Nobel Prize winner, dean of a medical school or CEO of a regional hospital system.

On the other hand, it’s usually a mistake to include a photo on your resume, and leave off any descriptive information (height, weight, eye color, etc.).  Those things don’t matter to a recruiter.  Other things to leave off your resume include your age, marital status and sexual orientation.  If you belong to a religious denomination, social organizations or political party, it’s best to omit that as well.  To reduce the risk of identity theft, never put your social security number on a resume.  There’s no way to tell who’ll have access to your resume after you send it off.

Always remember that the goal of your resume is to help you make it to the next round of the screening process.  Highlighting your professional accomplishments and experience while omitting any unnecessary personal information is the best way to capture the recruiter’s attention and be invited to interview for the position.  Good luck!

As a growing niche in the U.S. market, corporate healthcare offers new business opportunities for physicians, hospitals and other providers.  Many organizations – particularly Fortune 500 companies and other large employers – are opening their own healthcare clinics and expanding their on-site wellness programs in order to reduce costs, improve productivity and attract new talent.

In the past two years, corporate giants like Intel, HP and Michelin have invested millions of dollars into setting up employee clinics on their main campuses.  Other regional and local employers are also expanding their on-site healthcare programs in order to stake out a competitive advantage.  In many cases, these employers find it easier to partner with well-established hospitals or healthcare systems that can provide “brand-name” care to their employees.

However, some large companies are taking a different approach, expanding their human resource divisions and hiring physicians, nurses, nutritionists, and other professionals directly. In many cases, these employers turn to staffing firms like All Medical Personnel for assistance in planning their programs and for providing temporary staffing to get them underway.

When developing corporate healthcare programs, it’s important to survey employees and their families to determine what services are most likely to be utilized.  For instance, a recent study by the Center for Studying Health System Change in Washington, D.C., found that users of corporate clinic services most commonly sought vaccinations and other minor, routine services instead of care for chronic conditions.  When asked the primary purpose of their clinic visits, 63.7 percent of survey respondents in 2010 cited vaccinations.

Employers should also take a careful look at their insurance premiums and other financial outlays to build programs that offer the “biggest bang for the buck.”  For instance, corporate clinics and wellness programs could provide employees with incentives to address obesity, one of the nation’s most serious and costly health problems.  In any case, corporate healthcare is likely to grow in importance in the next decade, opening the doors to new partnerships, alliances and career opportunities.

It’s not easy for physician groups, hospitals, laboratories and other healthcare organizations to find well-qualified job candidates.  That’s why a growing number of employers are turning to outside staffing services that understand today’s complex recruiting process.

Today, there are three key challenges for employers who use their in-house human resource (HR) departments to fill open positions.  The first issue is time.  It can take weeks or months to sift through hundreds of online resumes to identify potential candidates – especially if the HR professional must also juggle other, more pressing tasks.  Second, those candidates must be carefully screened to be sure they have the appropriate educational background, adequate experience and right certifications and credentials.  Finally, the HR professional must also be able to attract and engage the candidate by articulating the reasons for joining the practice, hospital, company or system.

Since all these steps must be taken before the first interview occurs, it’s not uncommon for a vacant position to remain open for an extended period, while other employees pick up the slack.  The HR professional must dedicate considerable time to the identification, screening, and pre-interview process, rather than focus on other organizational priorities.  Finally, there’s always the risk that a new candidate won’t be a good match for the employer, regardless of how good those credentials looked on paper.

For all these reasons, healthcare employers rely on staffing firms like All Medical Personnel to find, screen and present appropriate candidates for open positions.  Today, effective recruiting requires specialized expertise and a distinct set of skills that may not be readily available in a small HR department.  Experienced recruiting firms know where to find suitable candidates and narrow the list to a small and manageable group.  Perhaps equally important, they understand how to appeal to the candidate by conveying both tangible benefits of working for the employer, and the intangibles like mission, values and culture.  For healthcare organizations seeking to fill open positions quickly and efficiently, hiring an outside recruiting firm can be a key step to filling vacant positions quickly and efficiently.

Providing workers with healthcare coverage still makes economic sense for large employers.  However, there are fewer incentives for smaller employers to offer coverage in the new era of healthcare reform.  That was the key message in a new national study for the nonpartisan National Institute for Health Care Reform.

The study, led by University of Minnesota researcher Jean Abraham, who worked with the Center for Studying Health System Change, calculated the economic incentives for employers offering coverage to active workers before and after health reform implementation in 2014.   The analysis used data from the 2008-2010 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

“The findings indicate that the economic incentives to offer coverage will remain strong under health reform for many businesses, especially larger, higher-wage firms,” Abraham said. “But they will weaken for small and low-wage employers – the very establishments that already were most likely to drop coverage because of rising costs.”

For the nation’s healthcare providers, the study points to the importance of regular verification of current insurance coverage, particularly for patients working for smaller businesses that might decide to drop this benefit. If so, there could well be a significant time lag before the patient purchases coverage from another source.

The institute’s study found that pre-reform, all businesses had an economic incentive to offer health insurance because the U.S. government gave preferential tax treatment for both employer and employee premium contributions.  Post-reform, employer premium contributions remain tax exempt.  In addition, two new policies take effect in 2014: a penalty on larger employers that do not offer affordable health insurance, and premium tax credits for lower-income people to purchase insurance in new state exchanges if they lack access to affordable employer coverage.

In the pre-reform period, the economic incentives of employers to offer health insurance were all positive and increased with firm size.  After reform implementation in 2014, the largest firms with 500 or more workers will continue to have a strong economic incentive, with an average incentive of $2,503 per employee, according to the analysis.  However, the smallest firms with fewer than 50 workers will face lower economic incentives – an average of $990  – in the post-reform period, in large part because these smaller employers will be exempt from the penalty.

With summer approaching, many health care administrators in Florida and across the country are wondering about vacation staffing issues and the benefits of locum tenens programs. At the same time, many physicians are also considering the advantages of taking a temporary position during the peak vacation season through a locum tenens placement.

To answer those questions, All Medical Personnel’s staffing professionals will be on the scene at the Florida Medical Group Management Association (FMGMA)’s annual conference, May 13-15, 2013, at the Caribe Royale in Orlando.  The event will bring together hundreds of administrators and other professionals who belong to MGMA, a well-established organization whose mission is to improve the effectiveness of medical group practices in Florida and the skills of the individuals who manage or lead them.

As a member of MGMA, All Medical Personnel contributes to advancing that mission by providing a wide range of staffing programs, including temporary or long-term locum tenens placements for physicians and other healthcare professionals.  For administrators, locum tenens staffing can meet increases in seasonal demand for services or fill gaps in coverage due to vacations, extended illness, or other causes.

For physicians and other professionals, locum tenens assignments offer variety, providing opportunities to practice skills in a new clinical setting and serve a different patient population.  Many locum tenens physicians also enjoy a change of pace in their lifestyle, such as spending a month or two in a coastal, vacation-oriented community.  Other advantages include flexibility in scheduling.  That might mean working a new shift, taking a temporary assignment for several weeks or moving to a new location for several months or longer.  A locum tenens assignment can also help professionals find a healthy balance between work and family responsibilities.

To find out more about summer staffing options, visit All Medical Personnel’s booth at MGMA2013. For more information on the conference, go to: http://flmgma.com.

In a step that will affect healthcare organizations throughout the country, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently issued a final rule implementing five key consumer protections from the Affordable Care Act. Under the rule, all individuals and employers have the right to purchase health insurance coverage regardless of health status.  In addition, insurers are prevented from charging discriminatory rates to individuals and small employers based on factors such as health status or gender, and young adults have additional affordable coverage options under catastrophic plans.

For providers, the HHS rule is expected to increase demand for healthcare services from the more than 30 million Americans who are currently uninsured for one reason or another.  Now, the HHS is mandating that most health plans include the following key provisions by 2014:

• Guaranteed availability. Nearly all health insurance companies offering coverage to individuals and employers will be required to sell health insurance policies to all consumers. No one can be denied health insurance because of current or prior illness.
• Fair health insurance premiums. Health insurance companies offering coverage to individuals and small employers will only be allowed to vary premiums based on age, tobacco use, family size, and geography.  Basing premiums on other factors will be illegal.  The factors that are no longer permitted in 2014 include health status, past insurance claims, gender, occupation, how long an individual has held a policy, or size of the small employer.
• Guaranteed renewability. Health insurers can no longer refuse to renew coverage because an individual or an employee has become sick.  Consumers have the option to renew coverage.
• Single risk pool. Health insurers will no longer be able to charge higher premiums to higher cost enrollees by moving them into separate risk pools.  Insurers are required to maintain a single statewide risk pool for the individual market and single statewide risk pool for the small group market.
• Catastrophic plans. Consumers will have access to a catastrophic plan in the individual market.  Catastrophic plans generally have lower premiums, protect against high out-of-pocket costs, and cover recommended preventive services without cost sharing.

With these rules slated to go into effect in 2014, hospitals, physician groups and other providers should begin planning how to address the likely increase in patient volume in the new state and national healthcare climate.

For nurse practitioners, locum tenens placements can open the door to new job and career opportunities.  With approximately 300,000 advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) in the U.S, there are plenty of opportunities for “fill-in” positions, project staffing and other types of temporary employment in hospitals, physician groups and other healthcare organizations.  The most important benefits of locum tenens placements include:

• Flexibility. You can choose a schedule that meets your needs. That might mean working a new shift, taking a temporary assignment for several weeks or moving to a new location for several months or longer.
• Variety. You have a chance to practice your skills in a new clinical setting and serve a different patient population. Many locum tenens providers also enjoy a change of pace in their lifestyle, such as spending a month or two in a seaside, mountain or other vacation-oriented community.
• Income. You can earn a solid income throughout the assignment period. All Medical Personnel pays providers weekly on a fee for service basis, and provides professional liability insurance at no cost to the employee.
• Work-family balance.  A locum tenens assignment can help you find a healthy balance between work and family responsibilities. For instance, it can be difficult for two medical professionals to find appealing jobs in the same location. A locum tenens placement can provide a temporary solution while you search for the right step to advance your careers.

As a nurse practitioner (NP), your skills are in demand throughout the country. That’s also true for specialists like a family nurse practitioner (FNP), pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP), adult nurse practitioner (ANP) or women’s health nurse practitioner (WHNP).  Staffing firms like All Medical Personnel can help you apply for the necessary credentials and licenses for locum tenens placements in different states. The placement process is usually much easier for temporary positions in your current community and state.

Fortunately, national nursing associations are working on a consensus model designed to unify licensure, accreditation and certification requirements on the state level. That will make it easier for nurse practitioners to move from state to state, creating more opportunities for locum tenens employment and improving access to nursing care across the country.

It’s not uncommon for ambitious college students with multiple interests to go for a double major.  That could provide a new graduate with solid credentials in marketing or finance, for example, along with a liberal arts major like English, history or sociology.  Having a degree with a double major can certainly help attract the attention of employers since it shows your interest in learning as well as your willingness to work hard to earn your degree.

The same type of thinking can help you get off to a good start in healthcare or take your professional career to a new level.  Even if you don’t have an official double-major, you can still differentiate yourself from other new graduates by pointing out a wide set of classes and experiences.  If you’re applying for a nursing position, for example, why not emphasize your strong skills in Spanish or French, for example.  If you’re seeking an entry-level laboratory technician position, you could improve your chances by talking about your management experience in a summer retail job.  In any case, being able to bring something “extra” beyond the formal requirements can be a big help in landing that first position in healthcare – and to keep your career moving forward in the future.

Having a strong set of skills in a non-healthcare field can also help you make a career transition into this growing field.  Let’s say, you’ve spent your last ten years working in an accounting, sales, marketing or IT firm and are ready to try something new.  Today, there are plenty of opportunities in healthcare for professionals who know budgeting, accounting, billing, coding and collecting.  Health systems, hospitals and physician groups – as well as healthcare IT companies – are looking for skilled sales, marketing and public relations professionals.  In fact, the need for skilled professionals will only accelerate as federal healthcare reform gradually reshapes the delivery of services.  So, if you can bring a double major or a wide set of skills to a healthcare position at any level, you can dramatically improve your chances of being hired.  Good luck!

If you are wondering where the U.S. healthcare sector is headed, think about mobility.  An explosion of new mobile applications (apps) is helping patients and families use their smart phones and tablets to connect with physicians, hospitals and other providers.  Perhaps most importantly, these new mobile apps have the potential to support wellness and disease prevention, shifting the focus away from acute patient care, while providing more effective monitoring of costly chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension.

One recent example is Heart Health Mobile,  a free mobile app created by the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation as part of a nationwide competition in support of its “Million Hearts” initiative. “The foundation has created an app to give people easy access to some of the most advanced health care analytics available to learn the factors that put them at risk for heart attacks and how to prevent them,” said Farzad Mostashari, M.D., the national coordinator for health information technology. “People can now get information about their risk and share what they know with their doctor to better manage their heart health.”

Heart Health Mobile, which can be downloaded from iTunes, provides information about  a person’s risk for heart disease based on answers to questions about height, weight, cholesterol levels and blood pressure, diabetes, and smoking status.  In areas with participating pharmacies and other retail clinics, the app steers users to convenient locations for cholesterol and blood-pressure screening.  A feature that tracks users’ histories allows people to easily see if they have made progress as they work to lose weight or lower cholesterol and blood pressure levels.

Along with the regular app, Heart Health Mobile has an innovative feature that allows users to play a “game,” earning points for completed tasks and awards for tracking their heart health and reaching their targets.  As Simon M. Lin, M.D., director of the foundation’s Biomedical Informatics Research Center, said, “As health care moves rapidly toward preventing disease, technology such as Heart Health Mobile can help people take charge of their health.”

One of the foundations of the national Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the concept of a state-level health insurance exchange or marketplace. The goal is to make it an easy and affordable for consumers and small businesses to purchase health coverage through private health plans. It’s a particularly important step for millions of individuals who do not get insurance from their employers.

Hospitals, physician groups and other healthcare providers should pay attention to the progress toward creating these two marketplaces – one for individuals and one for small businesses – in their states. After all, having insurance coverage makes it much more likely that individuals, couples and families will access primary care and specialty services.

As of mid February, 20 states and the District of Columbia have been conditionally approved to partially or fully run a marketplace, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The most recent state was Illinois, which plans to be ready for open enrollment in October 2013. “We are forging ahead to make the promise of the Affordable Care Act a reality,” said Illinois Governor Pat Quinn on Feb. 13. “We are going to be working very hard between now and October 1st to educate the people of our state about the health care coverage options they will have through the marketplace.”

Quinn’s remarks reflect the two key challenges that states will face in setting up these new health insurance entities. First of all, each state will need to establish policies, rules and regulations for insurance companies that desire to participate in the marketplaces, as well as reviewing their rate structures and coverage options.  That’s a daunting task in itself.  But state officials will also need to educate the consumers about these new options – a process that may well require telephone or face-to-face discussions with individuals and families.  Since educating consumers is vital to the success of the state marketplaces, healthcare providers may want to become involved in the process, such as holding health fairs that include insurance representatives or posting information, such as FAQs, on their websites.  While getting ready for the full implementation of the ACA next January is a major challenge for the healthcare industry, the reform effort is also creating new opportunities as well.