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Nov 20, 2017 10:59:00 AM · by David Kushan

The Importance of Cultural Fit in Identifying the Right EHR Consultant

Consulting, Corporate Culture

 

When it comes to building out your team — healthcare information technology consultants included — it’s imperative to screen potential team members carefully to ensure they have the level of expertise required to handle the job.

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Aug 3, 2016 12:36:19 PM · by David Kushan

Tips for Selecting a Healthcare IT Consultant

Corporate Culture, Healthcare IT

Adding a skilled healthcare IT consultant to your team can help you maintain your existing applications or implement new ones, providing technical expertise that your organization needs but doesn’t currently possess. Once you’ve decided that an IT consultant is the best way to augment your existing operations, it’s time to start thinking about how to find the resource who best fits your healthcare organization.

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Mar 5, 2015 12:00:00 AM · by Karl Dinse

Resumes: What's the Same as 20 Years Ago? What's Different?

Resume Tips, Corporate Culture

Even though the Internet provides tremendous resources on how to build a strong resume, it amazes me how many candidates still do not understand how to convey their background in a powerful, compelling biography.

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Jan 6, 2015 9:30:00 AM · by Ashley Wetmore

Seven Common Segments Of A Resume

General, Resume Tips, Industry News, Corporate Culture

Your resume is your most important calling card in your job search. At Healthcare IS we review hundreds of resumes regularly and have outlined the seven most evident segments found on the resumes we evaluate. Continue reading below to discover what these segments are and how you can best utilize them.

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Oct 29, 2014 12:00:00 AM · by David Kushan

Should You Pay a Referral Fee for Healthcare Job Applicants You Hire?

General, Hiring, Corporate Culture, Healthcare IS Team

Let me start by clarifying what I mean by "referral fee."

I'm not referring to a placement fee paid to a recruiting firm determined by contract terms. I'm referring to a "bonus" paid to either an internal employee and/or a professional not associated with a recruiting firm upon the hiring of a candidate who was referred by that individual. 

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Oct 9, 2014 12:00:00 AM · by David Kushan

Good People Are Really Easy To Find!

General, Hiring, Corporate Culture, Networking, David Kushan

In December 2010, I was at the ASHP’s (American Society for Health Systems Pharmacists) midyear meeting in Anaheim, CA. Over the years, their track relating to Pharmacy IT and Informatics has really expanded.

Between sessions, I was engaged in a conversation with a Director of Pharmacy and a Manager of Pharmacy Informatics. Both were talking about the technology initiatives their organizations had in place related to pharmacy and the medication management process. Once the discussion evolved into specific project plans and go-live dates, it turned toward having the right people in place — both full-time employees and consultants. Of course, it doesn’t seem like you can have a conversation about hiring Healthcare IT employees without someone saying how hard it is to find the right people. So, when they started telling me how hard it’s been for them to find the right people, they were both a little shocked by my response: “Good people are easy to find.” I paused for effect and when they both stared at me like I was crazy, I added, “Good people are easy to find — they’re just very hard to get hired.”

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Oct 1, 2014 12:00:00 AM · by David Kushan

One Way to Guarantee Credibility as a Consultant

General, Consulting, Hiring, Corporate Culture, David Kushan

In this post, I want to discuss how to gain credibility with a hiring manager at the conclusion of an interview. 

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Sep 30, 2014 12:00:00 AM · by David Kushan

Projecting Demand For Your Skills

General, Consulting, Career Planning, Corporate Culture, David Kushan

When looking to get into a new marketplace in which you think there will be high demand, you'll want to consider a few factors:

• How difficult will it be to break into the new market?

• How long will demand last?

• Will you be better off than if you were to remain in your current market?

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Sep 3, 2014 12:00:00 AM · by David Kushan

Is a longer contract always better?

General, Consulting, Corporate Culture, David Kushan

Consultants who work primarily on a contract basis know that there will come a time when their “job” will come to an end, and they’ll have to look for a new one. Even though there are many benefits to contracting, this is the one aspect to which contractors do not look forward.

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Jul 2, 2014 9:14:00 AM · by Karl Dinse

One Crucial Skill You Need

General, Tips for Traveling Consultants, Corporate Culture, Interviews

Over the years, I've personally found active listening to be a very difficult skill to develop. Why? Partly because I'm a "type A" personality who likes to engage assertively, sometimes even aggressively, in conversation. I find myself occasionally interrupting people so that I can get my point across or "win" the conversation/debate. Many words have been written and training programs developed around active listening. Below is a summary of my thoughts on the topic.

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Jun 18, 2014 12:38:00 PM · by Healthcare IS Team

Professional Email Etiquette

General, Corporate Culture, Healthcare IS Team

In today's day and age, we are flooded with emails on a daily basis. Most people have a personal email address where we are bombarded with special offers, facebook alerts, updates from friends, etc. as well as a professional email address used for work purposes. And in most cases, this is equally full of new emails on an hourly basis. But are all these email necessary and relavant?

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Apr 1, 2014 10:29:00 AM · by Karl Dinse

Urgency: Does the Market for Top Talent Really Change?

General, Industry News, Hiring, Corporate Culture

All of us in the staffing business have often heard, "We're in a candidate-driven market right now," or the opposite: "We're in a client-driven market right now." How about, "We are in neither?" The reality of the demand for "A" talent is that hiring the best requires a philosophical approach and process that consistently advocates a sense of urgency for all parties involved.

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Feb 5, 2014 12:00:00 AM · by Karl Dinse

Visionary Planning

General, Corporate Culture

Now that most of you have thought about what you want to accomplish next year (including how you want to accomplish it), and have even done some traditional planning with objectives, metrics, and desired outcomes, perhaps it's time for a different perspective.

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Nov 12, 2013 12:00:00 AM · by David Kushan

When Interviewing Potential Candidates, Change What You're Looking For

General, Hiring, Corporate Culture

A few months ago, I read a New York Times article by Thomas Friedman titled "Need a Job? Invent It." In this article, Friedman refers to the book Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World by Tony Wagner, a Harvard education specialist. In the book, Wagner makes reference to a few key points:

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Jul 9, 2013 12:00:00 AM · by David Kushan

Optimizing LinkedIn as a Job Seeker

General, Resume Tips, Industry News, Corporate Culture, David Kushan

The May 2013 issue of Inc. magazine featured an infographic (on page 24) concerning trends in big company hiring. 

Specific references were made to the fact that, for most companies that are hiring, online “job boards” are not producing the results they used to. When it comes to hiring online, employers need to be where the employees are. At the dawn of Internet recruiting in the late ’90s, people looking for jobs would regularly go to job boards or would post their résumés online when they were open to hearing about job opportunities. 

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May 7, 2013 12:00:00 AM · by Healthcare IS Team

How Saving Money on a Salary Can Cost You the Candidate

Hiring, Corporate Culture, Healthcare IS Team

In a decision-making position, it’s often your job to save the company money wherever possible. Whether you accomplish this through effective vendor management, staff reduction, or offering lower salaries, you, as a manager, are usually looking for ways to save a few extra bucks and, as a result, make yourself look good. 

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Nov 26, 2012 11:02:00 PM · by David Kushan

Will Travel Requirement Trends Lead To More Healthcare IT Consultants?

Consulting, Hiring, Corporate Culture, David Kushan

Once Health IT employees gain a certain level of experience working at a hospital, they have the option to consider working as consultants. As Health IT consultants, they would have the ability to increase their income by 25-70%, depending on their specific skills and the type employment or contracting relationship they put in place. Now, I understand that money isn’t everything, but it’s a motivator for many people who get into consulting. However, what keeps most people from getting into consulting is the amount of travel required.

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Oct 9, 2012 12:00:00 AM · by David Kushan

Hiring Lessons From The World Series Champions

General, Hiring, Corporate Culture, Healthcare IS Team, David Kushan

I’ve always been a sports fan. In fact, I played various organized sports from the time I was six all the way through college, where I played baseball. In my opinion, so much of what happens in the sports world has direct correlations to everyday life. I also believe there are many lessons there that can be applied to hiring and team building.

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Sep 6, 2012 9:00:00 PM · by David Kushan

Should You Have A Hiring Standard?

General, Industry News, Hiring, Corporate Culture, Networking, David Kushan

It simply amazes me (and I’m not amazed too often) how bad some people are at hiring or building a team. It's almost as if - and I'm not trying to be sarcastic here - some people are trying to mess things up. Otherwise, I can't imagine how someone in a management role could stop, think, and then still do the things they do.

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Aug 7, 2012 9:00:00 PM · by David Kushan

Healthcare IT Employers - Are You Hiring Talent or Filling a Job Opening? Part II

General, Hiring, Corporate Culture, Networking, David Kushan

Optimal performance during this process reflects very positively on the organization, as this is where first and lasting impressions are made among all parties involved. Thus, structure, formality, and the positive alignment of all decision-makers are highly important factors for on-boarding the very best candidates. If this alignment is not present during the process, then clearly the candidate will sense this and might have hesitancy or doubts as to whether this is the “dream” career that he or she is seeking.

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Aug 2, 2012 9:00:00 PM · by David Kushan

Healthcare IT Employers - Are You Hiring Talent or Filling a Job Opening?

General, Hiring, Corporate Culture, Networking, David Kushan

As parts of the overall job market are starting to improve (Healthcare IT being one of them, of course), I’m beginning to see a lot of the same headlines I saw when the economy was coming out of the 2001 recession. Articles about employment branding (which should never stop, even in bad times), the war for talent, etc. are popping up quite a bit. Estimates are showing that the Healthcare IT industry could be up to 50,000 new positions.

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Jul 24, 2012 9:00:00 PM · by David Kushan

Did You Think it Would be This Crazy?

General, Hiring, Corporate Culture, David Kushan

In the past, our firm has taken on projects for multiple hires with health systems with which we’ve never worked (it’s always exciting when taking on new clients). One particular client, like many healthcare organizations across the country, continually embarks on very ambitious projects. This client has a track record of fantastic accomplishments.

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