Andy Weiss (00:52)
Hi friends and welcome to this episode of Now Hiring, the podcast about talent, staffing and recruiting brought to you by the good people at Ceipal. I'm your host, Andy Weiss, Chief Marketing Officer at Ceipal. This is a bonus episode of Now Hiring recorded recently at Ceipal Connect, where we invited several healthcare staffing leaders to share their insights with you on the challenges they currently face. The discussion covered talent shortages, the need for better tech integration and even strategies for retention and compliance. So without further ado,

Let's dive into the session.

Greg Iannuzzi (01:23)
All right, hi everyone. We hope you're enjoying Ceipal Connect 2025 and welcome to our customer panel for healthcare staffing. As many of you know, the healthcare industry faces unique challenges, regulations, growing demand for specialized professionals, and a plethora of other challenges that both the healthcare,

companies and healthcare recruiting firms face. In this session, we're gonna explore how staffing leaders are navigating these complexities, leveraging technologies and uncovering new opportunities for growth. I'm honored to moderate this discussion and I'm glad to have our expert panelists on board. First and foremost, we have Deb Browning, President and CEO of Season Recruitment. We have Rajat Raj, founder and CEO of VIR Consultants.

and Raman Chata, recruitment specialist from Vestica. We're excited to start this discussion and we're going to have, we're going be asking them questions and getting their insights. Together, they bring deep expertise into the health care staffing recruitment strategies and workforce solutions. And later, during the session, if the audience has specific questions, please feel free to drop that into the chat and we'll have them answered at the end of the session. So from here,

Let's dive into the conversation and the panel discussion. And we'll take it one by one. So each of you will have time to give your insights on each specific question. But dad, let's start with you right off the bat. Healthcare staffing has always been a tough business, but today with talent shortages, regulatory hurdles, and increasing demand, the pressure is even higher. From your perspective, what's the single biggest challenge you're facing right now and how are you working to overcome it?

Deb Browning (03:09)
biggest challenge that I am having right now is there not enough health care workers to be able to come in and fill a lot of these shifts. What we're doing to overcome it is really just getting into the gig side of it and almost like a plug and play. So, you know, we have them coming in, whether it be on the travel side or any type of contract, and then being able to plug and play them into different areas and helping

keep everything staffed as much as possible while more people are going through the educations to get their licenses and become a nurse or a doctor or mental health professional.

Greg Iannuzzi (03:48)
Very good, understandable. Robin, I'd love to hear your perspective on this and how you're handling the challenges.

Raman Chawda (03:56)
Well, I agree with that. That's one challenge. But the other challenge is one, that shortage of staff. Second is you don't have good portals. You don't have portals like any other staffing industries. A lot number of portals where you can go out and reach out to this health care staff and, you know, engage with them. I think this has been a pain area since 2020. think we used to work on social media, then we moved to different platforms. And every year there is some new platform coming in.

we don't have much of a good platform to source these nurses or travel nurses and engage with them. So that has been a pain area for us.

Greg Iannuzzi (04:33)
Yeah, understood. So talent shortages and avenues to find this talent are definitely big major blocks in the industry right now. Rongette, we'd love to hear from you and if you have anything to add.

Rajat, you're on mute right now.

Ranjit Raj (04:51)
I'm really sorry. Thank you, Greg. Thank you for giving that. I think, yeah, I would agree to what Deb and Raman said. So talent shortage is definitely a pain area. Again, Raman also highlighted one of the biggest pain areas, the job boards. I think there is also a reason why people, I think, are not aware there are job boards. But I think those are very expensive.

And that is another challenge. But I think we have seen other options. I mean, if the companies can actually try start investing a little bit every month on databases and there are several portals. I mean, I think research is more important. So there are portals, but yes, compared to what we have in IT, we do not have. But yes, again, one major problem that I...

see is the shortage, talent shortage and I think retention and redeployment is one way that we can overcome these problems.

Greg Iannuzzi (06:03)
Yeah, absolutely. I'd love to hear a little bit more about any retention strategies and redeployment strategies you have and how technology can help enable that for you all.

Ranjit Raj (06:15)
Greg, I think a good question. think Sipal is here. I think the best part that we are still connected with Sipal is, compared to other ATMs, Sipal never says a no. mean, whenever we come up with challenges, Sipal is always very ready. I think there is a talent bench module that we had in the IT, know, ATS, but I think

I had a discussion recently if that gets enabled. We can have automate reminders for the projects that the nurses are, the projects that are getting over. And there are several ways, but for that, think I'm actually working on that project. And we will have to completely put every process onto CIPAL from the MSA agreement.

transactions to the onboarding and everything. If that happens, think we can definitely automate a lot of it, instead of giving that load to the recruitment team.

Greg Iannuzzi (07:26)
Yeah, absolutely. I love that. Good, good insights there. Deb, Raman, anything you'd like to add to that?

Raman Chawda (07:34)
No, just I think I agree with Ranjit and then Ceipal can be a very good tool right now because I did go through all the automation and everything. So I know there's a shortage of job boards, but every nurse we get on those job boards, once they are integrated with Ceipal and if Ceipal AI is helping us with reaching out to them, matching the jobs, checking candidates availability, that can be a deal breaker right now.

Greg Iannuzzi (08:00)
It makes sense. mean, automation is becoming more more critical. And you guys are just highlighting that point of why automation is important and how we get to these candidates quicker to redeploy them and keep them employed. So great insights there. And on that note, we're also hearing a lot about staffing shortages hitting hospitals and clinics. it's not just about clients. It's not just about hiring. It's about keeping the talent engaged, right? So we talk about redeployment, but there's high level of burnout.

these travel nurses or even if they're not traveling, nurses, your local tenums, they're working long hours and long shifts and it's a competitive environment. Are you all doing anything differently to attract and retain healthcare professionals?

Raman Chawda (08:46)
I would say you're attracting and retaining healthcare professional. It's not just about filling position. It's actually about building long-term relationships. So one thing we do here is like, you know, we train our recruiters to not just find and place nurses, but to be with them throughout their journey, build a long-term relationship, help those nurses to renew their contract, be in constant touch, find their pain areas, find out the burnouts, find out if they are willing to change the shift.

or they're looking for different locations. So in that case, once you give them a personalized recruitment experience, you have an option to retain the nurse and be with them for a longer term. So that's one thing we do here. Less number of placements, but a long-term engagement that definitely helps to retain them and grow longer.

Greg Iannuzzi (09:35)
for sure. Relationships and trust is key in recruiting and staffing. Definitely. Deb, any thoughts on that?

Deb Browning (09:41)
Yeah, I mean, one of the things that we do is we partner with a lot of agencies as well as our own clients that are coming in. And what we try to do with our candidates is give them options. If they're getting there, if they're say they're working in the ER, you know, and that they're constantly doing that, they need a break, finding them another gig to where they can come in and maybe slow it down, catch their breath and then go back in.

and giving them those types of options are actually keeping them in our stable longer because they know that they don't have to go to another agency to find work if by chance they have a contract ending and they don't want to return to XYZ Hospital. And so that seems to be working really well with us. Going back up though, how we're keeping our candidates coming in, we were hitting on C-POL. I really wanted to focus on C-POL Engage because C-POL Engage with the automation and everything is

what's driving my business and being able to stay on top, touching these candidates on a regular basis, setting up that automation without having to go in and email one person at a time. And that's where we're able to continue with that high volume, the amount of people that we put in.

Greg Iannuzzi (10:53)
Yeah, well, Deb, it's like you're in my head. I was going to ask if you're using CPAL Engage and Raman, you too, to stay engaged. Because to your point, building relationships and building trust is critical. But if you're not in continuous communication with these candidates, how do you know what their needs and wants are? And so I love that you can use some of our CPAL Engage. And kind of piggybacking off Amar's session, it's cool to see some of the enhancements that are going to be coming to our CPAL Engage tool as well. So thank you for that.

Rajat, love to hear some thoughts from you as well.

Ranjit Raj (11:25)
I think yes, the points that we've highlighted are very, very important. Again, I think contractor care is one aspect that I am trying to build. But yes, again, you know, giving more responsibilities to the dedicated team is like giving them more work. And I think these small notifications and you know, engagement, know, engagements that we can, you know, use.

definitely used SIPAL and the engagement tools that we have in SIPAL. We have text messages because I think we still have nurses or candidates, I would say. If a recruiter is working on any position, they have 50 to 100 candidates in any given point, I definitely feel the major problem is connecting with those candidates because of the time.

the business hours that clashes with the hours that majority of the nurses are working. I think the second point I've observed is nurses getting frustrated, specifically if I talk about nurses, because of getting multiple calls. So what we have done is automating initial screening by doing AI interviewer, using AI sourcer to have this communication and get those connect.

and get the schedules and appointments with those candidates so that the connectivity would be better. So instead of using more recruiters, I would always go with utilizing some technology in engaging and using the initial connect.

Greg Iannuzzi (13:08)
Yeah, and that's a perfect point. And I think that's what we talk about when we talk about people driven AI, right? Like it's not to replace the people that are doing the jobs, but the automation and the technology can enable your recruiters to focus on really what they need to be focused on. To Deb's point, using C-PIL engage to not only automate communication, but also automate processes within the tool, being able to use it to change statuses or put notes in the system. So your recruiters aren't

bogged down with those tasks. They're building the relationships, they're building trust with their candidates and they're engaging with them more consistently, which is gonna lead to, to your guys' point, a happier candidate and one you can redeploy more frequently. So yeah, thank you for those insights. And then I'm gonna move on, cause technology is gonna drive some of the other challenges I feel that we're facing within the healthcare industry. And those are some of the regulatory requirements.

it's constantly evolving and staying compliant is becoming more of a major challenge. How are you all streamlining credentialing and compliance process without sacrificing accuracy or slowing down placements?

Deb Browning (14:22)
That's a great question. And it changes every single day. And so it's really, really hard to do that. One of the things that we take advantage of within the lease with the Ceipal is, you know, with all of the documents, when they expire and stuff like that. So we get those notifications to basically be ahead of the game. So that way, if there's any issues, we were able to take care of it very, very quickly. But, you know, everything is changing on such a daily basis. It's almost hard to stay on top of it.

or stay ahead of it. But that's what we've been doing is to make it as easy as possible, making sure we have every document that we feel that is going to be required for the credentialing to be able to stay in and just keep moving forward, I guess is the best way to put it.

Greg Iannuzzi (15:09)
Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, can tell Deb. Any other insights, Ranjit, Raman, anything that you guys want to add there on the credentialing and the compliance process? I'm sure it's as much of a headache for you as it is for Deb.

Raman Chawda (15:28)
It is, but I think Ceipal have been really helpful. I recently had an experience with them where like the compliance and the requirements are continuously changing, right? So we need to update them. We need a system that can identify. for example, this current Ceipal, it help us to identify when the credentials are expiring, send automated notification to the candidate, to the recruiter so that they can follow up. Apart from that,

if there is any compliance change by the government. So we need the ADS system to integrate those changes with this. And I think this has been one biggest advantage I've been having with working with Ceipal team, like the backend team, they're really helpful in that case. So that is one huge benefit to cover this particular challenge. Another is a strong compliance team. I would say by combining technology and human oversight, we can solve this problem. That's the only way.

It's not 100%, but we can be at 99.9 % with this.

Greg Iannuzzi (16:25)
Yeah, well, and that just goes right into our theme too of how technology should empower and enable humans. And it's still going to take humans to make sure that the job is done efficiently and correctly. So I love that. Ronjit, please, I'd love to hear your insights.

Ranjit Raj (16:41)
I think yes, Raman have covered everything that I would say, I you know, I think every time what Raman said, you know, it would not be accuracy, but I think every moment we would understand the challenges that we're facing and there's always a room to, you know, to improve. But yes, C-PALS notification factor. And, but I would like to add one more point that this is one opportunity that I would say, you know, because there are companies, there are agencies who are actually offering sign on bonus and

other benefits. But instead of that, know, when we get a notification that any XYZ candidates credentialing is about to expire, I think that's an opportunity where we can build rapport and reputation with the candidate, you know, by giving them an offer or giving them chances to, you know, take their financial, you know, give them some financial vouchers or something, you know, some discounts where they can, you know, we can take half of their expenses.

I think that is also one major point that I would like to add.

Greg Iannuzzi (17:43)
Yeah, that's a great incentive. That's a great way to use that as an opportunity and you know to add on to all of that too. I know Cipal and our back end team or engineering team is working hard to release a digital wallet that's going to make it much easier for your travel nurses to upload and store their documents, which I think is going to make everyone's life easier of not having to constantly resubmit. And so I'm really excited about that upgrade and I think that's going to help add this.

I know we're not gonna always solve this, I know we're not gonna solve this problem in its totality, but it's gonna help aid to make it easier for you guys. So I'm excited about that. And as we talk about technology, obviously there's no shortage of promising technology that's gonna revolutionize staffing and it's gonna change the game from AI driven recruitment to automated credentialing, but not everyone delivers.

You know, it could be SEPA, but any other technologies that have made a difference for your organization or where do you see the biggest opportunity for innovation in this field right now?

Raman Chawda (18:50)
I would say that's AI driven predictive analytics, not just automating the compliance, but even when the health care staffing is pretty different. So we need to understand when the nurse is available, when the project is available. So if this can be more AI driven, the productivity of the analysis is really good. That can not just help us to find or match a job or match a candidate to a proper job.

but can also help us to foresee what kind of staffing prospects what we have in this particular client or particular facility. So that is one, like biggest opportunity for me is AI driven productive analytics.

Greg Iannuzzi (19:32)
Yeah, yeah, that's a big one. Predictive analytics is going to be critical in the future. I've heard that a lot.

Deb Browning (19:40)
One of the things that I really use a lot is the AI sourcing aspect of it. where nowadays, anybody that we speak with is already scheduled on our calendar, is already looking for a job. We have 100 % gotten rid of the cold calling. We do not pick up the phone and dial for dollars all day long. I always tell my recruiters when I'm training them, hey, we're not telemarketers, we're recruiters.

And so we're utilizing a lot of the AI sourcing, the automation from like C-POL Engage to where we're touching these candidates, email, text, if they're coming in and they give us consent and doing the AI sourcing and everybody that comes on our calendar. So is now somebody that is looking for an opportunity. It helps us do a screen to a submit very, very quickly because we're telling them, Hey, this is all the information we're going to need ahead of time.

And so they're already ready to move to the next steps. And it's been amazing in that aspect. And then I use AI to write job postings and contracts. So it makes my job a lot easier on the administrative side too.

Greg Iannuzzi (20:52)
Yeah, it's a lot of time and when we say we're talking about the auto sourcing where you can your recruiters can come in and people have already responded to a potential email that has already been sent out through SQL based on some of the auto sourcing capabilities within our tool. That's what that's what you mean, Deb. Yeah, that's great. Roger, I'd love to hear your final thoughts on this topic.

Deb Browning (21:09)
Absolutely, yes.

Ranjit Raj (21:16)
Yes, so Greg, think I agree. I AI sourcer has always been a help. I think it has streamlined and it has helped not us, but actually the recruitment team. But I would like to take about a process that we have implemented. It's an AI interviewer, and we have actually started marketing it and passing on a message to the nurses that

It is just to make sure that you avoid multiple calls from recruiters and you can get the initial screening that we need, that the recruiter is doing. I think we have asked them to do it as per their leisure and comfort, I mean, whenever they're available. And what the recruiter can do is once we see those videos and those transcripts, we can eventually, we already have those schedules based on that, it becomes easy for us to connect.

and to also to understand the interest of the candidate, which is very important because if someone is taking an AI interview very seriously, I think the candidates are pretty much interested in taking an opportunity.

Greg Iannuzzi (22:29)
Yeah, yeah, that's that's great to hear and another really good example of a it's not AI to replace the recruiters. It's AI to enable the recruiters to be more focused on the candidates that are more interested and more more serious in it. And I know these AI interviews have big technology is becoming more and more prevalent. You know, we see it in every show that we go to. There's more and more of them being released. But I can see being very valuable to your earlier point of how these nurses, they don't work regular shifts all the time.

So they may be getting off at 4 a.m. in the morning and so then they're maybe searching for their next opportunity in their job and then they can at least start the process without having to wait on a recruiter to get into work. So another great example and great insights there. And obviously the other factor we have is rising labor costs, fluctuating bill rates, financial pressures, which make it difficult to maintain profitability without sacrificing quality.

How are you guys navigating the financial challenges of the healthcare staffing industry while ensuring top-tier patient care?

Deb Browning (23:39)
I'm self-funded. I mean, it's a make or break with them. We go full board all day, every day, and don't slow down. So if somebody doesn't want something, we look for something else for them, because every one of them is money to us. So that's how we continue to do it. Keeping our travelers and all our contractors happy. But then also, if they want to get in that current position,

put them over there. Don't hoard one area just to keep making that extra money as a contractor. So that's what we do.

Greg Iannuzzi (24:17)
Absolutely.

Ranjit Raj (24:20)
I think I would agree, you this is a major problem that staffing agencies are facing, I think. But I would, what we are trying is we have specialized into permanent staffing as well. So I think diversifying into permanent staffing and along with travel would a little bit will be helpful because permanent staffing, the commissions are high and I think that becomes the capital to run the operations. And secondly,

To actually control the finances, think again, I would use the same term, redeployment is very important. The more and more attention and redeployment has been focused by all the staffing agencies, I think we can make more money at least on the second contract that the nurses take.

Greg Iannuzzi (25:06)
share a win-win, right? Like they stay employed, they have a constant paycheck, and the staffing organization has constant revenue. I think that's important. Raman, anything you'd like to add on that topic?

Raman Chawda (25:18)
I just, I totally agree with Deb and Ranjit. It's just that one add-on thing what we can do here is make those nurses aware, like educating the nurse, maintaining a strong relationship and educating them on market trends can be really helpful here. So that's what we've been doing. I think the cost has or the pay has been continuously going down since 2022. 2020 was the best year, but then after that, it was a disaster. This is the only thing that is helping us right now.

Greg Iannuzzi (25:47)
Yeah, for sure. know 2020 was the boom when travel nurses were on fire for sure. And hopefully too with our cost sheet automation, it helps with you all monitoring and managing your margins more effectively too, which makes, think, hopefully your life's easier to know, hey, when I'm placing someone, I know what the margins are and I understand where everyone stands and the consultant's happy and the staffing agency is happy and ultimately then the facility will.

best staffing partnerships, they're built on alignment and trust, but sometimes miscommunication competing priorities get in the way. What do you think makes a strong relationship between staffing firms and healthcare employers? And how can both sides work together? And I know you've hit on some of these topics, right? Redeployment, communication, engagement. So those are all critical, but any, anything else that kind of sticks out, that's maybe out of the box that doesn't, that maybe other people aren't thinking about.

Deb Browning (26:46)
being real with these folks, having an open candid conversation just like how we're having one here today. That's how you build the trust. If they think that you're used car salesman and just trying to make an extra buck off of them and low balling them for example, they're not gonna work with you. So if you just have that open conversation and say, this is the reason why, it works so much better.

Greg Iannuzzi (27:11)
Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. Honesty is awesome.

Ramin, Rajit, anything you'd like to add there?

Ranjit Raj (27:22)
Yes,

I would agree. mean, trust is very important. So being a staffing agency, you know, it's not just the customer that you're supporting, you're building trust for, I think the candidates. if the communication is very clear, you know, you're passing on communications, respecting their time and, you know, respecting their, you know, work timings.

I think it would be very easy for us to build that repo.

Greg Iannuzzi (27:56)
Yeah, for sure.

Raman Chawda (27:58)
That's the only thing. And I think staffing is the only industry where you not only have one client, you have two different clients, candidate and the facility. Both are your clients. And what we say in sales or in any industry is that the boss is always right, correct? It's just that we have to find a way to communicate clear like what the healthcare or what the healthcare staff or nurse needs with the facility at the same time.

We also dictate the facility terms clearly to the nurse. In this way, we can build a strong relationship and I would say trust, transparency, and clear communication. That's it.

Greg Iannuzzi (28:34)
Yeah, all great advice, really good advice. And obviously, as we've talked about, the industry is shifting rapidly. What would be one piece of advice that you would share with other staffing leaders on what they should prepare for?

Raman Chawda (28:56)
I think so.

Ranjit Raj (28:58)
Please go ahead, Raffi. I'm really sorry.

Raman Chawda (29:01)
It's okay. I would just say that, know, staffing leaders like who embraces AI technologies, right, who are flexible enough. We have seen the trend or the change in the healthcare staffing completely from 5,000 weekly paid to 2,000 weekly paid. Someone who is, know, someone who embraces the technology is flexible enough and understands the candidate first approach will always stay ahead in the evolving landscape.

Deb Browning (29:26)
very good.

Yeah, I am. I'm going right to the bold prediction part.

Greg Iannuzzi (29:35)
I

figured you would have.

Deb Browning (29:37)
You know I am. I have to look at what's coming down the pipe. I've already seen that rise in telehealth. I am seeing more and more and more jobs coming in that I've never seen before working remotely. What I'm expecting to see, I would say within the next five years, is honestly the smaller brick and mortar type of doctors offices, clinics, and only seeing more of your standalone urgent cares, emergency rooms, and your hospitals.

And then everything is transitioning over to telehealth. And I'm seeing that already on my side with the growth, especially on the mental health side. also advanced practitioners, my MPs and PAs are working from home more than they're working out of a clinic nowadays. And so that's what my bold prediction is going to be is that we're going to be seeing more of our providers from our home than we will be going in and seeing them face to face.

Greg Iannuzzi (30:33)
yeah, COVID has changed more than just the way we work. It's how we now engage our healthcare professionals. And I used telehealth just two weeks ago as a matter of fact. So it is definitely becoming more more prevalent. I know you have something to add there. sorry, go ahead Deb.

Deb Browning (30:49)
you're fine. said you can even get it on Amazon nowadays. I mean, it's like everywhere.

Greg Iannuzzi (30:53)
You can, yeah, absolutely. For sure. You can do everything out of the comfort of your own home these days.

Deb Browning (30:58)
Absolutely.

Ranjit Raj (31:03)
Yeah, so telehealth, think this is another big change that is happening. And also there are other line of businesses under healthcare itself. A lot of people are not talking about allied health. We have challenges, we have to diversify there. I think the facilities, I would say there are challenges at their end or physician recruitment. That's another big challenge. There are locums.

So I think for staffing agencies, I think we have to be ready for the change. That's very important.

Greg Iannuzzi (31:38)
Absolutely. That's a good insight there. And I know we're up on time, but we do have one question from the audience I want to get out there. And it's around sharing some insights on companies that are focusing on direct hire and health care. So I'm guessing the insights are, what are we seeing from a direct hire perspective? are some of the advantages of focusing on direct hire? What are some of the challenges? And just not the nurses, any of the health care professionals.

Deb Browning (32:09)
What I think on the direct hire side is that the companies, the facilities are utilizing multiple recruiters. So getting an exclusive is almost impossible nowadays. And that they're taking their time to hire. And so what I've done to combat that part is going back to where I have multiple opportunities for each candidate. And I personally let my clients know,

You're not the only company that they're interviewing with. Having that open communication, that is what's going to be the biggest part. making sure that you have something for your candidates because they're going to try and save a buck, especially right now with so many things being cut. It's best for you to make sure that you have more than one opportunity. And that's why I've partnered with a lot of agencies. And we do splits because of this reason that we're able to keep all of our candidates in our stable, but able to make placements with them too.

And the clients are happier that way because they know that we're not going to play the game.

Greg Iannuzzi (33:12)
Perfect, Deb. That was such good conversation that we took a no, no problem. We took the whole 30 minutes. I really appreciate you guys' time. thank you, Deb, Ram, and Rajat. Your insights were invaluable. And it was great doing this with you. I loved listening to you guys.

Andy Weiss (33:32)
A big thank you to our special guests, Deb, Ranjit, and Raman. If you enjoyed this episode, please check out our Now Hiring newsletter for more industry insights and strategies. And until next time, we are now hiring.