One of the industries for which the coronavirus pandemic was even a turning point and a stimulus for development is telemedicine. It is also often called remote medicine because it enables the provision of medical services regardless of the patient’s location. Telemedicine uses both elements of healthcare and IT and telecommunications. Undoubtedly, COVID-19 has contributed to the growth of interest in solutions from this sector. According to the data of Kry company, which specializes in telemedicine, only until June this year, the interest in digital consultations with general practitioners increased by a record 115%. What does it mean for telemedicine recruiting?
The potential of telemedicine
Thanks to telemedicine it is possible not only to perform teleconsultation but also to monitor the patient’s condition, even carrying out diagnostics, rehabilitation or even performing remote surgical procedures. Some of the tools of telemedicine have been known in the world for a long time, and both doctors and patients have got used to them. In Poland, there is already an e-liberation, for a few months now, the e-prescription has been functioning successfully, and soon another obligation will become e-direction. During the COVID-19 crisis, telecades have become the basic method of doctors’ contact with patients from day to day.
However, it should be remembered that nowadays telemedicine is connected with many modern solutions. Innovative devices, which monitor the patient’s health on an ongoing basis, send data to doctors or perform tests remotely, are becoming more and more popular. These include mobile respiratory analyzers, rehabilitation devices, and even home “medical stations” with a glucometer, pressure gauge or scales installed. Big data tools and artificial intelligence are also increasingly used in medicine. Admittedly, they do not fully replace the doctor, but they allow us to eliminate some mistakes, suggest certain actions, and most of all save people’s time.
Development of telemedicine and forecast for the next few years
According to a report by PMR, a consulting and analytical company, the Polish telemedical services market was worth 4.1 million PLN in 2018. Before the outbreak of the pandemic, its value was projected to reach 143.4 million zlotys by 2023, and its growth rate at the turn of these years was to increase from 24% to 29%. Now that telemedicine is no longer just an option but a necessity, we can expect even greater growth in this industry and more opportunities for telemedicine recruiters.
According to PwC experts, apart from teleconsultation, the most promising services are telediagnostics, telemonitoring and telerehabilitation. The benefits resulting from the application of these solutions were then indicated as: an increase in the quality of provided services, speed of diagnosis, shortening queues for specialists, increased availability of doctors and improved efficiency of facilities. What is even more, spreading telemedicine across Europe would save as much as 100 billion euros a year.
How are patients oriented towards telemedicine? According to a survey conducted by the Biostat Research and Development Centre, as much as 72% of Poles believe that telemedicine is currently the safest form of contact with a doctor. At the end of April as many as 43.8% of Poles declared that they used remote medical assistance within the last seven days. The increase was 17% compared to March. Therefore, for patients, it is the fastest and safest form of getting medical help without having to leave home. Thanks to this, the risk of illness among healthcare workers is reduced and for institutions it is a profitable branch of activity.
Recruitment needs in the healthcare industry
From the data presented above it can be concluded that the development of telemedicine, especially in the face of the second wave of the pandemic, will continue to gain momentum. Undoubtedly, it will affect the demand for personnel in the medical industry and its diversification. Apart from qualified doctors or nurses, IT and telecommunication specialists, managers or persons dealing with financing and management in the area of healthcare will also be necessary. However, the medical industry imposes a certain specificity of action, therefore it is very difficult to recruit specialists who have knowledge in their field but are also able to relate it to the realities of medicine.
Therefore, to succeed in telemedicine recruitment, it might be a good idea to take advantage of the HR support of experts from the Talent Place community and find telemedicine industry specialists. Thanks to a large community of recruiters specialized in many industries – including medical – we are able to find and match employees to any organization. Recruiters from Talent Place work remotely and are dispersed in different locations, so they also know the specifics of the local labor market. This makes them reach exactly where they should be and at a fast pace they are able to find a perfectly matched candidate. All processes go into the online world, and telemedicine recruitment is no exception. See for yourself that it can be even more effective.
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