Home Health & Hospice Week

Choose a recruiter who knows home health inside and out.

With short-staffing issues rampant across the board in rehab, you may want to hire an employment recruiter to help you find the best therapists. But before you do, read about the pros and cons of investing in one.

Recruiters Save You the Hassle

If your staff already needs additional members, you will thin your resources even more by handling the job search yourself. Time is money--and here's how a recruiter can save you and your staff hours of work.

• They know where to look. You probably have a good idea about where to start, but a recruiter can put you on the right path quickly. "A recruiter might be able to get candidates for you to interview when traditional advertising fails," says Meryl Freeman, manager of outpatient rehab at Rex Healthcare in Raleigh, NC. They have contacts and feelers in places the average person is unaware of, putting you a step ahead of other facilities, and ultimately bringing you someone faster.

• They can look full-time. Your full-time job probably doesn't put hiring at the top of its list, but a recruiter's does. Imagine the time it takes you to recruit, interview and hire a candidate, and imagine how fast it would take you if you did it all day. Thus, a recruiter who puts full-time efforts into searching will undoubtedly bring in more candidates at a faster rate, lightening your load by providing more staff and by doing so in a more timely fashion, experts say.

• They can do it right. If you want a qualified hire that fits well in your facility, you don't want to cut corners in the hiring process by haphazardly squeezing it into your schedules. "Recruiting is a specific skill that requires specific tools and techniques," says Steve Passmore, CEO of Healthy Recruiting Tools in Murray, KY. So, let the experts do what they do best.

Tip: Stick to using one or two recruiters, suggests Anne Frederick, managing partner for RehabResource--Rehab Recruitment Specialists in Oklahoma City, OK. "It's better to build a relationship with a couple recruiters rather than to have ten tripping over each other."

Consider These Cons Before Hiring

If professional outside help is the answer to your hiring concerns, consider these cautions before proceeding.

• Recruiters are expensive. As much as you may want one, your agency may not be able to afford a recruiter. Prices can range from $2,000 to $10,000 per placement; in other cases, you may have to pay a percentage of the candidate's first year salary to the recruiter.

"With budgets being cut across the board for hospitals or rehab facilities, we have trouble justifying paying the higher fees for a recruiter-obtained therapist," Freeman says.

Tactic: Don't be afraid to negotiate. Prices may be out of your range, but many recruiters are willing to strike a deal, says Frederick.

• Your recruiter may not be qualified. Rehab positions are in a specialized field, so you want your recruiter to know the industry. If you find someone who doesn't, this person could cost your facility a hefty fee and then bring in unqualified candidates.

The recruiter market is big, but few understand rehab's specific needs, Passmore warns.

"Your recruiter should know what types of questions to ask about your practice. If you have to lead the conversation, they probably don't have a strong basis in therapy."