They go to the doctor.
Forget your political views for a minute. Now, please look at the SCOTUS decision and the ACA (healthcare reform) purely from a cold, hard, business implications view as it relates to search and recruitment in healthcare and medicine. Game on.
- There are 50 million people uninsured now.
- Estimates of 20-30 million who will have medical coverage with the ACA.
- The Affordable Care Act guarantees coverage of pre-existing conditions.
For the business of recruiting, screening and placing medical professionals the impact of the ACA can not be underestimated. The percentage increase of care driven by aging baby-boomers has already led to high demand for specific healthcare professionals in recent years.
The gap between the previous generation and the 70 million baby-boomers has been the largest percentage increase, from one generation to the next, ever. Simply put, as we age we see the doctor more, take more medicines and have more procedures done.
Add to that the never before seen affluence and demand for an active lifestyle this amazing generation has and you have some of the driving factors behind the slow and steady growth of healthcare.
Investments in healthcare companies, consolidation in the industry and its domination in adding jobs for ten years now can all be attributed to anticipation or realization of this demographic’s impact. Smart money has known for a long time that this larger generation would have a dramatic affect on demand for doctors, surgeons, nursing directors, technicians, therapists and more.
It certainly has, and the demand has steadily increased over recent years, reaching one peak after another. This and we are only two years into the first baby-boomer hitting retirement age.
Now, add to that 20-30 million Americans who will soon be able to go to the doctor, have tests done, benefit from procedures and receive medicine. Add to this the people who were previously left at the curb when it came to pre-existing conditions.
The “war” for healthcare talent has been officially on for awhile. Healthcare executives get it. They know that we are not “producing” new doctors, nurse practitioners, and therapists at the rate to even tread water.
If a healthcare employer is going to win, they must not only have people who can initiate and maintain the revenue cycle, they need the people who will do it the best. Increasingly, that means engaging some one capable of luring them away from a competitor (i.e. Peter Stanos Associates and PSA Partners).
In other words, they don’t want a “body.” They want a producer, maybe even a superstar.
It will only become more fierce for employers as they battle for talent to meet the demand for medical services. Regardless of your political or philosophical views on the legislation, for PSA Partners this adds gasoline to an already big fire.
Good thing we are well paid firefighters.
