For many years, The Cornerstone, the newsletter of Top Echelon contract staffing, was sent to the recruiters of Top Echelon Network.  The Cornerstone was eventually discontinued in favor of another newsletter, Contracting Corner, which is now published once a quarter.

However, we at Top Echelon Network still run contracting statistics in select issues of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.  These statistics include Non-Split Contract Placements, Split Contract Placements, and Non-Recruited Placements, among others.

And in this week’s issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog, we have a boatload of contract staffing placements to show you!  As you can see, many of these placements come with hefty recruiter shares, such quite a few over $20 per hour.

Remember, that’s money that these recruiters will earn hour after hour after hour . . . while they work making direct-hire placements at the same time.  If you want to be part of this “boatload of placements,” then don’t “miss the bus.” Are you noticing a transportation theme?  That’s because contract staffing can take you where you want to go.

You’ve been a great audience! Thank you and goodnight!

Many of the Top Producers in Top Echelon Network have added contract staffing to their recruiting firm’s business model.  Not only that, but they’ve also taken advantage of the services provided by Top Echelon Contracting, the recruiter’s employer of record services.

For more information about contract staffing and the back-office services that Top Echelon Contracting provides, call (888) 627-3678, Ext. 2.

A lack of qualified health IT professionals could prevent some healthcare providers from receiving government funding to implement Electronic Health Records (EHRs) at their facilities, according to Staffing Industry Analysts, citing data from a PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) Health Institute Report.

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) has been providing funding to healthcare providers for the adoption and “meaningful use” of EHRs.  That funding is contingent upon healthcare providers meeting specific deadlines.

But according to the PwC report, 67% of healthcare CEOs said they are experiencing IT staff shortages, and 59% said those shortages will negatively impact their ability meet those deadlines to receive the meaningful use incentives.

The need for Health IT professionals is so severe that many healthcare providers are seeking IT professionals from other industries.  But that is not the ideal solution.

Recruiter Raymond Gooch, who works the health IT niche, told Top Echelon Contracting that healthcare providers need IT professionals who have the ability to communicate with medical professionals, which is a hard combination to come by.  That is why many healthcare providers are turning to recruiters to help them fill these positions, making health IT a hot niche for recruiters.

“I’ve had hospitals tell me, word for word, ‘I have no problem finding quality IT professionals on my own, but I can’t find quality IT professionals who understand healthcare,’” said Gooch.  “Hospitals would strongly prefer individuals who have a healthcare background and have crossed over into IT.  That’s a slim pool of people.”

So it’s clear that recruiters are needed in this niche, but they need to be able to provide contractors to be successful.  Healthcare providers often need a lot of people to implement an EHR system, but only need one or two health IT professionals to maintain the system on an ongoing basis, Gooch said.

Contracting allows them to quickly ramp up to implement the project and then ramp down when it’s complete.  The PwC report found that 75% of healthcare providers are looking to hire health IT talent, so the potential is there for recruiters interested in this area.