Staffing firms ease hiring woes

Companies are willing to help you find employees, but you need to decide whether their fees are worth their services.

By Julie A. Jacob, AMNews staff. July 22, 2002.

When a physician's practice or medical group needs to fill an office position, there's an alternative to the time-consuming chore of wading through resumes, conducting interviews and doing reference and background checks on potential candidates.

For a fee, a staffing firm will do the job for you. All the physician has to do is interview the final candidates and let the firm know which one he or she has picked.

"We streamline the process for the client," said Chris Jepsen, president of Managed Care Staffers in Park Ridge, Ill., which places administrative and clerical workers in hospitals, medical groups and insurance companies. "The client comes to us and tells us what they are looking for."

Staffing firms can also test the person's coding and software skills, so the physician can feel confident that the person being hired has the skills to do the job, said Sue Smallwood, president of CSI Staff in Oak Brook, Ill., another staffing firm.

Another advantage of using a staffing firm is you can choose to hire someone permanently or hire someone temporarily with the option of hiring permanently if they appear to be a good fit for the position, said Smallwood.

There's also less chance of a physician having to fire an employee who has been carefully interviewed and screened by a staffing firm specializing in medical office placements. "It costs money to bring someone in and then have to fire them," said Smallwood. "By the time you do fire them, you have to worry about a lawsuit. Using a staffing firm saves a lot of headaches and money." [...]