FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – May 11, 2012 – The Delta Companies reveals the company’s core ideology to the public today, “creating access for people through performance and humanity,” with the launch of their redesigned Web site, www.tdcpeople.com.

The Web site objectifies why we exist and explains how The Delta Companies open doors for everyone. Additionally, the Web site has increased transparency of The Delta Companies award winning culture.

Breaking Down the Statement

“Create” is an action driven verb meaning to make something from nothing. Creating access is what we do - members are given access to great careers at the Delta Companies; providers receive access to new and exciting opportunities; facilities gain access to quality clinicians; and, in turn, patients access the care they need and deserve. The services provided by The Delta Companies impact more than any one individual; the outcome of a good placement spans across all involved parties. 

The latter portion of the company’s ideology focuses on the importance of both its values; performance and humanity. The organization drives home the importance of executing for customers to a world class level AND putting people first. Members at The Delta Companies believe that performance is primary and people are more important.

“Most people think if you are a high performing organization, you can’t use words like respect and love, and if you use those words then you can’t be a for-profit,” CEO Jeff Bowling said. “We are living proof that you can be both!”

Launch of the New Site

The redesigned Web site was released today concluding a six-day video campaign via Facebook and Google+. One video was released per day, focusing on a new portion of the Web site by flashing images that related to a specific word within the company’s purpose statement. The campaign circulated May 4-10, with the goal of generating hype among staff members and the organization’s fans. For full videos, visit facebook.com/TDCpeople.

In addition to a modernized presence on the Web, the site redesign has incorporated new navigation techniques and media content to enhance the Web viewer’s experience. With sections such as company “fun” and “meet the people,” The Delta Companies has created a portal into the lifestyle and internal behaviors of organization’s culture.

Visit the newly designed Web site at www.tdcpeople.com .

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians, physician extenders, therapy and other allied healthcare professionals. Physician staffing services are represented by Delta Physician Placement and Delta Locum Tenens. All other healthcare staffing services are represented by Delta Flex Providers through the recruiting operation efforts of Delta Healthcare Placement and Delta Flex Travelers.

 Contact:     

Marc Bowles
Chief Operating Officer, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175
Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
PR@The Delta Companiespeople.com
 http://www.TDCpeople.com

DALLAS, TEXAS – April 3, 2012 – Today, The Delta Companies celebrates Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bowling for being named a member of the Who’s Who: The Staffing 100 list. Bowling was recognized as a “Mover and Shaker” on the Staffing 100, placing The Delta Companies as one of only three healthcare staffing agencies on the 2011 list.

After founding The Delta Companies in 1997, Bowling has led the company through a substantial 15 years of growth. The Delta Companies was listed on the Staffing 100 in recognition of the firm’s five-year compound annual growth of 21.51 percent. Bowling was also mentioned for placing as an Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” finalist in 2007.

Historically, The Delta Companies has made the Staffing Industry Analyst’s “25 Percent Club” of fastest-growing private staffing firms five years running, Inc. Magazine’s list of “Inc. 5000 America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies” three years running and the Dallas Business Journal’s “Dallas 100” fastest-growing private companies list six out of the last seven years.

About Staffing 100

Written by Craig Johnson and KJ Fullam, the Staffing 100 list is comprised of nominations from throughout the staffing industry. Johnson and Fullam describe the list as a means to credit people who have positively influenced millions of as leaders in the staffing industry.

“These folks have influenced staffing for the better and helped drive its growth,” Johnson and Fullam write in the introductory page of the list. “They are a mixture of the young and old, those just starting out and those who are CEOs of estab­lished corporations. Although our list is not an academic or objective study, it gives a contem­porary viewpoint of who is important to the staffing industry today.”

For the full text of the Staffing 100 list, visit http://www.staffingindustry.com/site/Research-Publications/Publications/Staffing-Industry-Review/October-2011/The-Staffing-100.

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians, physician extenders, allied and therapy healthcare professionals. Physician staffing services are represented by Delta Physician Placement and Delta Locum Tenens. All other healthcare staffing services are represented by Delta Flex Providers through the recruiting operation efforts of Delta Healthcare Placement and Delta Flex Travelers.

The Delta Companies announced today the release of the 1st Quarter 2012 Physician Recruiting Standard and Healthcare Recruiting Standard. The Standard is a quarterly resource from The Delta Companies providing a summary of physician and healthcare specialist compensation, placement data, and market trends in recruitment. To view the Standard and subscribe to receive it each quarter, please visit www.tdcpeople.com/Standard.

About The Delta Companies
The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians, physician extenders, allied, and therapy healthcare professionals. Physician staffing services are represented by Delta Physician Placement and Delta Locum Tenens. All other healthcare staffing services are represented by Delta Flex Providers through the recruiting operation efforts of Delta Healthcare Placement and Delta Flex Travelers. 


Contact:       Marc Bowles
                     Chief Operating Officer, The Delta Companies
                     Four Hickory Centre
                     1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175
                     Dallas, TX  75234
                     (800) 521-5060 x4102
                     PR@tdcpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – February 23, 2012 – Today The Delta Companies, Delta Flex Travelers, and Delta Locum Tenens announces they have been named to both Inavero’s 2012 Best of Staffing™ Client  and Best of Staffing™ Talent lists, with Delta Physician Placement also being honored on the 2012 Best of Staffing™ Client list.  Best of Staffing, presented in partnership with CareerBuilder, is the nation’s only award that recognizes staffing firms that receive remarkable reviews from their clients and the people they find jobs (employed talent).  Fewer than 1% of North American staffing firms have been named to the 2012 Best of Staffing Client or Talent Lists.

“Only through our providers and clients allowing us the opportunity to serve them, is it possible to achieve this industry leading experience,” said Jeff Bowling, President and CEO of The Delta Companies.

Staffing firms competing to make the Best of Staffing list underwent a rigorous client and talent survey process followed by careful analysis of responses to determine satisfaction levels. The Delta Companies received satisfaction ratings of 9 or 10 out of 10 from 71.4 percent of their clients and talent, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 50 percent. Best of Staffing participants secured a place on the list by earning an average Net Promoter ScoreÒ that was nearly double the national staffing industry benchmark for client satisfaction.

“The staffing industry continues to play a key role in helping to revitalize the economy,” said Eric Gregg, Inavero’s Founder and CEO.  “Staffing firms give growth-minded organizations a more flexible alternative to recruiting their own employees, letting both the employee and employer determine if the fit is right for a more permanent position.  Both sides receive tremendous value in a flexible, yet meaningful working relationship, and as they engage with staffing firms to help achieve those goals, the service experience they have is very important to their success. The Best of Staffing lists are a resource for businesses and talent who are trying to find staffing firms that provide exceptional service.”

Inavero’s complete Best of Staffing list can be viewed at www.bestofstaffing.com. For more information about Inavero, visit www.inavero.com.  For more information on The Delta Companies please visit www.TDCpeople.com.  

About Inavero

Inavero designs and manages satisfaction surveys for a global list of clients in more than 15 countries. Inavero’s proprietary technology platform gathers and reports staffing firm client and talent satisfaction information through online surveys. Inavero’s team analyzes satisfaction feedback from more than 500,000 staffing firm clients and talent each year, and serves at the American Staffing Association’s exclusive research partner.

For more information contact Inavero at (800) 921-2640 or email bestofstaffing@inavero.com. www.inavero.com | www.bestofstaffing.com.

Net Promoter, Net Promoter Score, and NPS are trademarks of Satmetrix Systems, Inc., Bain & Company, Inc., and Fred Reichheld

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians, physician extenders, allied, and therapy healthcare professionals. Physician staffing services are represented by Delta Physician Placement and Delta Locum Tenens. All other healthcare staffing services are represented by Delta Flex Providers through the recruiting operation efforts of Delta Healthcare Placement and Delta Flex Travelers.  

Contact:              

Marc Bowles

Chief Operating Officer, The Delta Companies

Four Hickory Centre

1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

Dallas, TX  75234

(800) 521-5060 x4102

PR@tdcpeople.com

http://www.TDCpeople.com

"The recruiters were very professional and friendly and work very hard to get you matched up based upon your education and experience. They are available at all times to help you with any questions you may have. I can't think of anything that needs to be changed at this time."

Staffing firms competing to make the Best of Staffing list underwent a rigorous survey process followed by careful analysis of responses to determine satisfaction levels. The Delta Companies received satisfaction ratings of 9 or 10 out of 10 from 74.6 percent of their talent surveyed, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 50% percent. Best of Staffing participants secured a place on the list by earning an average Net Promoter Score® that was nearly double the national staffing industry benchmark for talent who had been placed in a job.

According to recent Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, staffing firms have created more new jobs since the end of the ‘Great Recession’ than any other industry, accounting for 91% of the total job growth. "There is still so much work to be done," said Eric Gregg, Inavero's Founder and CEO. "The most recent BLS report shows 14 million unemployed, nearly half whom have been out of work for six months or more. Job seekers are using staffing and recruiting firms now more than ever before, and it’s our hope the Best of Staffing List will help guide them to the firms who have truly created an exceptional experience for the talent they are helping put back to work.”

Inavero’s complete Best of Staffing list can be viewed at www.bestofstaffing.com. For more information about Inavero, visit www.inavero.com.  To learn more about The Delta Companies visit www.TDCpeople.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – September 13, 2011 – The Delta Companies will have two featured speakers at this year’s Staffing Industry Analysts Healthcare Staffing Summit which held September 21-23, 2011 at the Downtown Marriott in Philadelphia.

Produced by Staffing Industry Analysts, the global adviser on contingent work, the Healthcare Staffing Summit will focus on the most pressing strategic issues that affect how you make crucial decisions each day.

Jeff Bowling, Chief Executive Officer, and Marc Bowles, Chief Operating Officer, will be speaking in a session entitled "High-Bang-To-Buck Tactics".

This year’s Summit will also feature keynote presentations by William Frist, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader on the future of healthcare reform,  a panel of leaders on what to expect for the healthcare industry  in the next five years, including former AMA president, James Rohackand Staffing Industry Analysts President Barry Asinon where to find opportunities for growth in healthcare staffing.

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies (www.TDCpeople.com) offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, and Delta Flex Travelers.
 
Contact:        

Marc Bowles
Chief Operating Officer, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175
Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
PR@tdcpeople.com
http://www.TDCpeople.com

DALLAS, TEXAS – September 7, 2011 – The Delta Companies will be joining employees of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and other area organizations as volunteers during the Great Urban Race, Saturday, October 15.
 
Volunteers will help with pre-race setup, registration, pre-race instruction, finish line assistance and camera check, and post-race cleanup. This fun unique experience begins at 10:30 am and wraps up at 5 pm with a costume contest and award ceremony.

The mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Consistent with the vision of our founder Danny Thomas, no child is denied treatment based on race, religion or a family's ability to pay.
 
For more information on how you can join The Delta Companies Day of Caring or other philanthropic initiatives, please contact Casey Meyers at cmeyers@tdcpeople.com.
 
About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies (www.TDCpeople.com) offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, and Delta Flex Travelers.
 
Contact:       

Marc Bowles
Chief Operating Officer, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175
Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
PR@tdcpeople.com
http://www.TDCpeople.com
PrintThis     

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – August 24, 2011 – The Delta Companies recently won four awards of Excellence and two merit awards for their advertising in the American Staffing Association’s annual VOICE awards competition. 

The firm’s in-house advertising team was recognized in the categories of Company Web site, Public Service, Multimedia, Social Media, Company Publication and Other Advertising.  The Delta Companies has now been honored in the competition for five consecutive years, including twice winning Best of Show.

The ASA Staffing VOICE Awards competition recognizes the voice, originality, innovation, creativity, and effectiveness—or VOICE—of ASA member communications campaigns.  A panel of communications experts judges the entries in two award classes, for independent and national staffing firms, on general appeal and overall quality, content and message, originality of approach, target audience, and objectives. 

Awards will be displayed during Staffing World, Oct. 11-14 in New Orleans, and will be published in the November-December issue of Staffing Success. 

For more information on The Delta Companies, please visit www.TDCpeople.com.

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:         

Marc Bowles

Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

Four Hickory Centre

1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

Dallas, TX  75234

(800) 521-5060 x4102

PR@tdcpeople.com

http://www.TDCpeople.com

June 8, 2011, Los Angeles, CA –As the economy begins to show signs of recovery, and pressure returns on nurse wages, attrition, and labor availability, hospital executives face the challenge of managing labor costs and scarce clinical personnel while managing patient care. The National Association of Travel Healthcare Organizations (NATHO) commissioned KPMG LLP to conduct a study to explore how hospital executives consider their use of full‐time and supplemental labor strategies in the current economy that addresses patient care, costs, and revenue retention and growth.

NATHO’s 2011 U.S. Hospital Nursing
Labor Costs Study, which is based on a survey of 120 senior hospital executives throughout the United States, provides labor cost benchmarks useful in labor model analysis. NATHO is a non‐profit association of travel healthcare staffing organizations founded in 2008 to create and enforce standards of practice, ethics, and dispute resolution.

Labor Cost for a Full‐Time Registered Nurse
According to the survey, the all‐in cost of a full‐time direct care hospital registered nurse (RN) is on average $98,000/year ($45/hour), of which only $55,739 is base wages ($25.84/hour). Fully‐loaded payroll, which includes base wages, employer taxes and paid time off represents 76‐78% of the total cost of the RN labor force at facilities. The balance comes from non productivity costs (12‐13%), insurance costs (8‐9%), recruiting costs (1‐2%), and other costs (1%). In other words, the actual cost per hour for a full time nurse is on average 176% of their base hourly wage. These
are important factors in evaluating whether to add staff, increase overtime or use contingent nurses to meet patient needs.

“Hidden” Costs of Full‐Time Nursing Labor
There are also significant additional “hidden” nursing labor costs, which are mainly the result of non‐productive labor hours and associated opportunity costs, as well as attrition and time required to fill a permanent direct care RN position.Non‐productive labor hours on average represent 13% of total hours, according to respondents.

Optimum Staffing Levels and Quality Override Cost as Decision Factors
Two‐thirds of the hospital executives responding to the survey say they are currently using travel or per diem nurses. The key reasons for using traveling nurses were supply and demand, and quality of these nurses. These appear to be even more important decision factors than cost. Some of the reasons given, which enable some hospitals not to use traveling staff, include the use of extra full‐time staff, part‐time employed staff, incentives to limit turnover and to encourage working overtime, as well as the current economic downturn leading to limited turnover. Many of these factors may be of a temporary nature, and increase costs and turnover over the long term. Respondents also stated that the ideal balance is 90% permanent staff and 10% supplemental labor.
 
“The study offers an unbiased view of the comprehensive costs associated with full‐time, direct care nurses and the financial impact of utilizing direct care staff to manage a hospital’s fluctuating demand for clinicians,” said Mark Stagen, NATHO president “Findings are drawn from the responses of those at the heart of the industry, offering valuable insight on current trends and future opportunities. The study also seems to confirm what many of our members have said all along that the cost of a permanent RN isn’t that different than the cost of a Travel Nurse.”

About the Survey
The 2011 U.S. Hospital Nursing Labor Costs Study, conducted by KPMG LLP on behalf of NATHO, looks at the current condition of United States hospital labor costs and explores issues that could shape a hospital’s labor strategy in the coming years. To see the entire survey, go to KPMG’s website by clicking here.

About NATHO
The National Association of Travel Healthcare Organizations (NATHO) is a non‐profit association of nearly 40 healthcare staffing travel organizations founded in 2008 to create and enforce standards of practice, ethics, and dispute resolution. It has set the gold standard for conduct that is aligned among member agencies on behalf of travel healthcare candidates and clients, with its ultimate focus on maintaining quality patient care within the travel healthcare industry. For more information, visit www.natho.org.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – June 9 2011 – The Delta Companies recently announced that their annual ‘Disco Cup’ golf tournament raised $13,965.29 for Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.

144 golfers took part in the tournament, along with sports celebrities at the Bridlewood Golf Club in Flower Mound, Texas. 26 volunteers and sponsors also donated time and resources for event. Local sponsors included Wells Fargo, Holmes Murphy, Impact Printing, O.E. Penguin and Enterprise Rental Car.

The donation is part of a larger annual initiative to raise $85,000 dollars for the hospital by the end of this year. The staffing firm will be holding its annual silent auction the week of November 7th-11th and anyone is welcome to bid on the auction items.

In the past items have included event tickets, sports memorabilia, travel packages, and a wide array of specialty gifts. All proceeds from each event go directly to Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children during the 2011 holiday season. See the video of the tournament by visiting www.youtube.com/TDCpeople.

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:


Marc Bowles


Chief Operating Officer, The Delta Companies

Four Hickory Centre

1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175


Dallas, Texas 75234


(800) 521-5060 x4102


PR@tdcpeople.com

http://www.TDCpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – April 21, 2011- Delta Physician Placement announced Wednesday, April 20 the winner of the promotion “For Those Who Care”.  Eric Conkling of Coshocton County Memorial Hospital was randomly selected from the pool of nationwide submissions. A donation of $1,000 on behalf of Coshocton Memorial Hospital will be made to New Life Ministries, a community food bank in Coshocton Ohio. All medical facilities across the country were eligible to win the donation for whichever charity they selected in their community.

“The “For Those Who Care” campaign goes well beyond a marketing message. It draws awareness to the meaningful impact that healthcare providers have on individuals, families, and entire communities.
 
We solicited feedback on the new website that helped illustrate the “For Those Who Care” campaign. The feedback was overwhelming and greatly appreciated as it provides a continued platform for us to improve the experience we provide.  Although the charitable promotion is over, your continued insight is welcomed and appreciated.” states Ty Chambers, EVP of Delta Physician Placement.

In order to be eligible to win the $1,000 charitable donation, facilities simply logged on to Delta Physician Placement website at www.deltaplacement.com and provided simple feedback on the site or campaign. The marketing of the promotion consisted of 2,500 direct mail awareness pieces to facilities, an email campaign, and Delta Physician Placement representatives contacting administrators to make them aware of this opportunity. 

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:


Marc Bowles


Chief Operating Officer, The Delta Companies

Four Hickory Centre

1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175


Dallas, Texas 75234


(800) 521-5060 x4102


PR@tdcpeople.com

http://www.TDCpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – March 8, 2011- Delta Physician Placement announced Tuesday, March 8th the launch of a new brand campaign.  With this launch, a promotion to make a donation of $1,000 on behalf of a medical facility that will be made public on Tuesday, April 19th.  All medical facilities across the country are eligible to win the donation for whichever charity they select in their community.

“The campaign, ‘For those who care,’ broadcasts our belief system regarding philanthropy, the communities, facilities, physicians and the overall experiences that our services provide.  An organization must listen with genuine curiosity to understand the pain of a prospect before it can truly help someone. In order to help someone, an organization must first care.”, states Ty Chambers, EVP of Delta Physician Placement.

"All communities can use some help in their philanthropic endeavors, and this is an opportunity for hospital administrators, physician recruiters or any member of administration at a medical facility to take a few minutes of time to potentially help their community.”, said Marc Bowles, COO of The Delta Companies.

In order to be eligible to win the $1,000 charitable donation, facilities simply go to the Delta Physician Placement website at www.deltaplacement.com and provide some simple feedback on the site or campaign. The marketing of the promotion consists of 2,500 direct mail awareness pieces to facilities, an email campaign, and Delta Physician Placement representatives contacting administrators to make them aware of this opportunity.  All medical facilities are eligible to enter the drawing.  Facilities may enter only once and all registrations must be received online by Thursday, April 14th.

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:
Marc Bowles
Chief Operating Officer, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre

1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175
Dallas, Texas 75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
PR@tdcpeople.com

http://www.TDCpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS - February 22, 2011 - The Delta Companies announced Friday, February 18th that both Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Physician Placement have been named to Inavero’s 2011 Best of Staffing™ Client list. Best of Staffing, presented in partnership with CareerBuilder, is the nation’s only satisfaction award that recognizes exceptional client service within the staffing industry. Fewer than 1% of North American staffing firms have been named to the 2011 Best of Staffing Client List.

“Less than 1% of staffing firms in the US and Canada have been named to the Best of Staffing List for Client Satisfaction and we’d like to first thank our customers for allow us the opportunity to provide an experience with our services,” Marc Bowles, COO of The Delta Companies states.

Staffing firms competing to make the Best of Staffing list underwent a rigorous client survey process followed by careful analysis of responses to determine satisfaction level. Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Physician Placement received satisfaction ratings of 9 or 10 out of 10, that was significantly higher than the industry’s average of 47 percent. Best of Staffing participants secured a place on the list by earning an average Net Promoter Score that was more than double the national staffing industry benchmark for talent satisfaction.

“These are exciting times as the staffing industry is helping lead the way to renewed economic vitality,” said Eric Gregg, Inavero’s Founder and CEO.  “It has been estimated that staffing firms have helped to fill at least one quarter of the 93,000 new jobs opening up each month in North America over the past year. Along with the increase in demand for talented job candidates, companies engaging with staffing firms expect impeccable service more than they ever have. It is our hope that businesses searching for a staffing partner use the Best of Staffing List as a guide to firms that have truly outperformed the industry for the service that they provide.”

Inavero’s complete Best of Staffing list can be viewed at www.bestofstaffing.com. For more information about Inavero, visit www.inavero.com.  To learn more about The Delta Companies visit www.tdcpeople.com. To learn about Delta Physician Placement visit www.deltaplacement.com or Delta Locum Tenens visit www.deltalocums.com

About Inavero, Inc

Inavero designs and manages satisfaction surveys for a global list of clients in more than 15 countries. Inavero’s proprietary technology platform gathers and reports staffing firm client and talent satisfaction information through online surveys. Inavero’s team analyzes satisfaction feedback from more than 300,000 staffing firm clients and talent each year, and serves at the American Staffing Association’s exclusive research partner. The firm’s surveys protect more than $4.3 billion in staffing firm annual revenue.

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:
Marc Bowles
Chief Operating Officer, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175
Dallas, Texas 75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
PR@tdcpeople.com

http://www.TDCpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – September 24, 2010 – The Delta Companies recently announced it has been named to Inavero’s 2010 Best of Staffing™ Candidate list, presented in partnership with CareerBuilder.  Best of Staffing is the nation’s only candidate satisfaction award that recognizes staffing and recruiting firms that provide exceptional service to their talent.

Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers and The Delta Companies enterprise all secured a place on the list by earning a Net Promoter ScoreÒ that was at least double the national staffing industry benchmark for talent satisfaction.  In addition, this is the second time in 2010 that Delta Locum Tenens has been recognized by Inavero for customer satisfaction, making the Best of Staffing™ Client list earlier this year for the experience provided by the business unit to its clients as well.  Delta Locum Tenens is the only healthcare staffing firm in the nation to be recognized on both lists. 

“Thank you to all the providers and facilities we have worked with for allowing us to serve them with an exceptional customer experience.  Without them this award would not be possible,” said Marc Bowles, chief marketing officer of The Delta Companies.

“Right now, not many companies are hiring full-time employees, but staffing firms continue to put more people on assignment each week. This is a time when those firms who are focused on delivering great service to their talent should be recognized and applauded,” said Eric Gregg, Founder & CEO of Inavero.

“Inavero’s Best of Staffing program presents an opportunity for staffing firms to differentiate themselves from the rest of the industry, recognizes excellence, and also provides invaluable information about how to continue to meet and exceed expectations of the talent they place on assignment,” adds Gregg. 

Inavero’s complete Best of Staffing list can be viewed at www.bestofstaffing.com. For more information about Inavero, visit www.inavero.com.  For more information on The Delta Companies please visit www.TDCpeople.com.  

About Inavero

Inavero designs and manages satisfaction surveys for a global list of clients in more than 15 countries. Inavero’s proprietary technology platform gathers and reports staffing firm client and talent satisfaction information through online surveys. Inavero’s team analyzes satisfaction feedback from more than 300,000 staffing firm clients and talent each year, and serves at the American Staffing Association’s exclusive research partner. The firm’s surveys protect more than $4.3 billion in staffing firm annual revenue. Visit Inavero on the Web at: www.inavero.com.

Net Promoter, Net Promoter Score, and NPS are trademarks of Satmetrix Systems, Inc., Bain & Company, Inc., and Fred Reichheld

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:              

Marc Bowles

Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

Four Hickory Centre

1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

Dallas, TX  75234

(800) 521-5060 x4102

PR@tdcpeople.com

http://www.TDCpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – September 21, 2010 – The Delta Companies announced today that Delta Flex Travelers, Delta Locum Tenens, and the firm’s consolidated business unit score have been recognized by Inavero’s 2010 Candidate Best of Staffing List.  To make the list, staffing firms needed a Net Promoter Score of 44 of higher.

This is the second time in 2010 that Delta Locum Tenens has been recognized by Inavero for customer satisfaction, making the Client Best of Staffing list earlier this year for the experience provided by the business unit to its clients as well.

For more information on The Delta Companies and additional announcements regarding Inavero’s Candidate Best of Staffing List, please visit www.TDCpeople.com. 

About Inavero

Inavero designs and manages satisfaction surveys for a global list of clients in more than 15 countries, with 5 different languages represented. Inavero’s custom created technology platform gathers and reports staffing firm client and candidate satisfaction information through quick online surveys. Satisfaction feedback from more than 100,000 accounting, legal, and staffing firm clients and job candidates is analyzed by Inavero’s team. Inavero’s client feedback system protects more than $4.3 billion in professional service firm annual revenue.   Visit Inavero on the Web at: www.inavero.com.

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:              

Marc Bowles

Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

Four Hickory Centre

1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

Dallas, TX  75234

(800) 521-5060 x4102

PR@tdcpeople.com

http://www.TDCpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – September 8, 2010 – The Delta Companies recently won three awards for advertising campaigns in the American Staffing Association’s annual VOICE awards competition. 

The firm’s in-house advertising team was recognized in the categories of direct mail, multimedia, and other advertising.  The Delta Companies has now been honored in the competition for four consecutive years, including twice winning Best of Show.

The ASA Staffing VOICE Awards competition recognizes the voice, originality, innovation, creativity, and effectiveness—or VOICE—of ASA member communications campaigns.  A panel of communications experts judges the entries in two award classes, for independent and national staffing firms, on general appeal and overall quality, content and message, originality of approach, target audience, and objectives. 

Awards will be displayed during Staffing World, Oct. 12-15 in Las Vegas, and will be published in the November-December issue of Staffing Success. 

For more information on The Delta Companies, please visit www.TDCpeople.com.

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:         

Marc Bowles

Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

Four Hickory Centre

1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

Dallas, TX  75234

(800) 521-5060 x4102

PR@tdcpeople.com

http://www.TDCpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – August 26, 2010 – The demand for emergency medicine physicians has climbed sharply in the past year, according to the most recent data published by The Delta Companies in The Physician Recruiting Standard. 

“Emergency rooms continue to experience an influx of uninsured patients as a result of high unemployment,” says Todd Turrentine, team lead of Delta Physician Placement. 

In the last twelve months emergency medicine jumped twelve spots on the publication’s list of specialties in demand, now only second to family medicine.

The Physician Recruiting Standard is a free, quarterly resource that provides a summary of current data and market trends in physician recruitment. 

For more information on The Physician Recruiting Standard and how to request your free copy, visit www.TDCpeople.com/standard.

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:         

Marc Bowles

Chief Marketing Officer

The Delta Companies

Four Hickory Centre

1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

Dallas, TX  75234

(800) 521-5060 x4102

PR@tdcpeople.com

http://www.tdcpeople.com/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – August 4, 2010 –Recently named as the fastest-growing healthcare staffing firm in the nation (Staffing Industry Analysts 2010), The Delta Companies is planning further growth initiatives, including an expansion of their sales force by over 38 percent before the end of 2010.

The Dallas, Texas-based staffing firm is set to hire over seventy new sales and recruiting representatives by the end of this year to support their four business units serving the healthcare industry. 

The hiring initiative will be kicked off with an event at the company’s office on Tuesday, August 10 from 5:30p-8:00p, where prospective new sales and recruiting professionals will have the opportunity to interact with current company personnel prior to beginning the interview process.

For more information on this event or The Delta Companies, please visit www.TDCpeople.com.  

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:              

Ryan Tipton

Chief Talent Officer, The Delta Companies

Four Hickory Centre

1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

Dallas, TX  75234

(800) 521-5060 x4104

PR@tdcpeople.com

http://www.tdcpeople.com/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – July 29, 2010 – The Delta Companies recently announced that their annual ‘Disco Cup’ golf tournament raised almost eight thousand dollars for Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. 

One-hundred and eighteen golfers took part in the tournament at the Bridlewood Golf Club in Flower Mound, Texas.  Numerous volunteers and sponsors also donated time and resources for event.  Local sponsors included Mission Foods, The Plexus Groupe, Impact Printing, O.E. Penguin, King Consolidated, and EarthWorks. 

The donation is part of a larger annual initiative to raise 65,000 dollars for the hospital by the end of this year.  Employees of The Delta Companies have also raised donations to dress casual on Fridays and the staffing firm will be holding its annual silent auction the week of November 8.  Anyone is welcome to bid on the auction items, which in the past have included event tickets, sports memorabilia, travel packages, and a wide array of specialty gifts.

All proceeds from each event will go directly to Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children during the 2010 holiday season. 

For more information on The Delta Companies, please visit www.TDCpeople.com.

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:         

Marc Bowles

Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

Four Hickory Centre

1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

Dallas, TX  75234

(800) 521-5060 x4102

PR@tdcpeople.com

http://www.tdcpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – July 8, 2010 – According to the annual list of fastest-growing staffing firms published by Staffing Industry Analysts, The Delta Companies now ranks first among the nation’s healthcare staffing companies.

“We’re ecstatic to again be recognized for our growth and take great pride in leading the way among healthcare staffing firms on this year’s list,” says Jeff Bowling, chief executive officer of The Delta Companies.

“Our determination to succeed in light of the recent economic conditions and focus on improving the customer experience has helped us continue to grow,” adds Bowling.

This marks the sixth year in a row that The Delta Companies has made the list of U.S. staffing firms that have a compound annual revenue growth of 25 percent or more over a five year period.  The Dallas, Texas-based firm ranked seventh overall on this year’s list, with a compound annual growth rate of 45.21 percent between 2005 and 2009. 

Staffing Industry Analysts’ report on the fastest-growing staffing firms is based on an annual survey of staffing firms.  Those firms who rank in the top 10 must submit financial statements verifying their revenue numbers. 

For more information on The Delta Companies, please visit www.TDCpeople.com.

About The Delta Companies
The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:      Marc Bowles
                     Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies
                     Four Hickory Centre
                     1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175
                     Dallas, TX  75234
                     (800) 521-5060 x4102
                     PR@tdcpeople.com
                     http://www.TDCpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – June 24, 2010 – Mike Zagami, senior recruiting consultant for Delta Locum Tenens, has been named to Locum Life magazine’s ‘Recruiters of the Year’ showcase for the third straight year.

Recruiters honored by the showcase must be nominated by a locum tenens physician.  Only twenty one recruiters across the country were named to this year’s list. 

“I have worked with multiple recruiters through multiple recruitment agencies, and by far the easiest person to deal with – most efficient, honest, and hardworking – is Mike Zagami,” says the locum tenens physician who nominated Zagami.

Each year Locum Life magazine’s June issue features the ‘Locum Tenens of the Year’ and ‘Recruiters of the Year’ showcases.  Locum Life magazine is the first and only publication dedicated to locum tenens physicians. 

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:          Marc Bowles

        Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

                        Four Hickory Centre

                        1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

                        Dallas, TX  75234

                        (800) 521-5060 x4102

                        PR@tdcpeople.com

                        http://www.tdcpeople.com/

Staffing Success Magazine (May–June 2010)

Staffing 2.0—Social Media Successes

Which Staffing Firms Make the Best Use of Social Media? How Can Yours?

You work for the best staffing firm in the world. And like your colleagues and competitors, you're on the lookout for the most innovative, progressive, and effective ways to engage your clients, candidates, and prospects.

That's why your firm is friending on Facebook, networking on LinkedIn, tweeting on Twitter, and maybe even yakking on YouTube.

But now what? And more important, so what?

Whether your firm cautiously dips its toes into the rising waters of social media, fervently dives in headfirst, or has so far quietly stayed out of the pool altogether, social networking is here to stay. If used astutely, it can enhance your firm's marketing and recruitment efforts. Yet its misuse can potentially damage your firm's credibility.

A closer look at the online presence of a few ASA member firms—along with insider tips from select social media mavens—reveals key considerations to help your firm make the most of its social media presence.

Start With the End in Mind

You need to know what you're trying to achieve through social media, says Eric Gilpin, president of the staffing and recruiting group for CareerBuilder, an ASA corporate partner.

"Companies need to ask themselves what the goals are," he says. "It could be any one of the following: branding and awareness, client lead generation, candidate pipeline development, candidate or client communication, or employee engagement."

Whatever your firm's social media goals are, you need to have a plan to reach them, says Chad Wandler, president of public relations firm Buzzago. He stresses that simply having an online presence is not the same as having a plan.

"Twitter and Facebook are not strategies," Wandler explains. "They are social media tools. Wordpress is not a strategy; it's a tool. You need a strategy. Make your social media strategy a part of your entire marketing mix."

Gilpin recommends that you take cues from your firm's current engagement strategies to decide how to get started in social media. He suggests firms consider the following questions:

• What are the pros and cons of the tactics that you are currently using?
• Is there opportunity for more engagement with a new audience?
• Are there successful tactics that can be expanded through a social media strategy to increase exposure and engagement?

"As social media evolves, it is important to know what you are looking for," Gilpin says. "Keep this in mind as you test different targets and try different content and approaches to ultimately engage the audience and build a group of brand advocates."

Expand Your Brand

Social networking can amplify your firm's brand by providing increased opportunities to connect with key audiences. According to a study by the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, more than 90% of the Inc. 500—a select group of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S.—use social networks for marketing and branding. More than 90% of the companies also reported using at least one social media tool in 2009.

Portfolio Creative, an ASA member, is one such company. Ranked No. 326 on the Inc. 500, this firm connects its clients with writers, designers, marketers, and other creative talent in and around Columbus, OH. The firm spearheads its branding efforts with its Web site, its blog—Blogfolio—and Facebook.

"We use Facebook to publicize awards we've won," says Jennifer Brown, the firm's marketing manager. "This has been a good way to raise awareness to clients and candidates about who we are and what we do.

"We don't run traditional ads, but we do sponsor creative events. We use our blog to promote the events we sponsor and to post articles about our industry. We use LinkedIn and Twitter to advertise jobs to individuals who may not be within our niche network."

The Delta Cos., an ASA member firm based in Dallas, uses social media primarily to achieve branding goals also. "Employer branding is the most identifiable benefit that firms can expect from a social media plan," says Marc Bowles, chief marketing officer for the Delta Cos. "We use it to communicate with employees and to establish our brand. We're considering developing one Facebook page for each business unit." He notes that recruitment and lead generation are other possible uses for social media.

Converse With Fans, Friends, Followers, and Foes

If you want a ringside seat to real-time conversations about your firm, social media tools are the ticket. And you don't have to sit quietly on the sidelines either.

"Social media provide a casual branding presence to position your organization as a leader and allow you to be present in the conversations people are having about your company," says Tom Gimbel, chief executive officer and founder of ASA member firm the LaSalle Network.

The firm actively engages its audiences through multiple social media tools, including Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and the company blog—Past Five.

In addition to receiving feedback about the company, the LaSalle Network has used these tools to make placements. "We have one recruiter who made a tremendous number of placements through LinkedIn," Gimbel says. "Some people on our staff have been very successful using their personal Facebook and Twitter accounts to make placements."

While the overwhelming majority of his firm's online interactions have been positive, Gimbel acknowledges the inherent risks that can result from the spontaneity and, in some cases, anonymity of online communications.

"There can be a negative backlash: People can defame you without acknowledging who they are," he says. "People can make posts without real information.

"We interview more than 400 people per week, but we don't place 400 people per week. Some people don't get jobs, and some of them may post negative comments about the company because of it."

The risks presented by social media do not deter the LaSalle Network. "We want to be viewed as a technology leader and the leading staffing and recruiting firm in the Chicago area," explains Gimbel. "You have to believe in the format, and you have to commit to it for an extended period of time," he says. "You need to make a commitment to it—there are no short-term solutions."

Measure Your Success

How can your firm determine if its social media strategy is working? Wandler of Buzzago says to track everything. "Make your efforts trackable. Tools for tracking are very important. You need to know what's going on and what's being said about you. And you need to keep track from day one."

Brad Smith, director of search engine optimization and social media marketing for ASA associate member Haley Marketing, advises staffing firms to not assume that a throng of friends, fans, or followers automatically equals social media success. "The number of followers and fans that your firm has may not be the best way to determine if you're meeting your goal," he says. "You need to know if the people who are following you meet your demographics. If you're a local staffing firm in New Jersey and most of your followers live in California, that may not be the best measure of success for your firm."

Wandler says firms can use tracking tools such as Scout Labs, MBuzz by Mountwater, and Radian 6 to measure their engagement efforts. "Radian 6 tracks all social media and can tell you if someone tweeted your company's name. It gives you the number of 'retweets' and tells you how many positive or negative comments there are. It's a good way to measure engagement."

Smith says Web traffic analysis is another good metric to track.

"You can gain insight on where traffic is coming from and whether or not people stay on the same page or travel to different pages within the site. For example, you can see if they leave the site, visit other pages, apply for a position, or make a job order request."

Team Up With Outsiders

Some firms may benefit from outside help. If developing a workable social media strategy seems daunting, or your firm is looking for fresh ideas to complement an existing strategy, consider teaming up with a social media expert.

Through an exclusive relationship with Facebook, ASA corporate partner CareerBuilder has helped its clients develop and implement successful social networking plans.

"CareerBuilder offers a variety of social media management services to help staffing firms with every step of the process—from setting up a company page, to getting fans, to evaluating program success," says Gilpin.

ASA member firm GDH Consulting is one of CareerBuilder's clients and was the subject of a CareerBuilder case study on social media use by staffing firms.

"Before working with CareerBuilder, we did not have a focused and structured social media plan," says J.J. Hurley, president of GDH. "The current social media strategy coupled with our recruiting methodologies is allowing us to cast a wider net within our recruiting efforts while still remaining focused on our unique target audience.

"Monthly e-mail campaigns have led directly to spikes in our Web traffic and candidates applying for jobs. In addition, the social media campaign has produced a higher volume of candidates, resulting in more interviews and referrals."

Allstates Technical Services, an ASA member in Birmingham, AL, is another subject of a CareerBuilder case study. Andrea Hopkey, the firm's president, worked with CareerBuilder to develop an engagement strategy. "CareerBuilder has met our expectations through its assistance creating a professional Facebook page and through ongoing collaboration with us to monitor the page, keep it up-to-date, and choose rich and relevant content to post.

"While continually growing our fan base and encouraging discussion has proven to be an ongoing process, I think one of the biggest successes so far has been using Facebook as a way to highlight our best and most important resource—our people."

Take the First Steps

If you think that social media is just another passing fad, you may want to think again. Smith of Haley Marketing says that having a social media presence will soon become the industry norm.

"There was a time when it was OK not to have a Web site," he says. "Now, not having one can negatively affect the perception of your business. Soon, having a social media presence will become a cost of doing business and it will reflect negatively on your firm if you don't have one—especially from a recruiting standpoint."

Bowles of the Delta Cos. agrees. The company has had a Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube presence for several months and has been on LinkedIn for almost three years. Bowles says, "To be without it is really not an option if you want to be considered a contemporary, cutting-edge, and innovative firm that attracts the younger generation."

Wandler of Buzzago says, "Expectations have changed. There's a certain transparency expected by today's generation. Recruiters need to remember that members of Generation X and Y have grown up with technology. This is nothing new to them.

"Firms need to understand the value of being able to provide real-time customer service. You need to get out there and observe and have natural conversations with people." Maintaining connections on continually updated social media sites is one way to have direct conversations and keep contact with potential candidates.

Wandler says there is no good reason for staffing firms not to set a social media program in motion. "Start small, but just start. There's no cookie-cutter approach to it. It's very different for everyone. Start slowly. Once people start, they usually say, 'Wow, I've learned more about companies and clients than ever.'"

Staffing Success Magazine (May–June 2010)

An Equation for Successful Communications

Reem El-Khatib

Numbers have told many stories over the past year: of the decline in the economy; of growth in temporary and contract employment; and, according to Kevin McGovern of RealStreet Staffing, of the rewards of winning an award in the ASA Staffing VOICE Awards competition. The awards celebrate the vision, originality, innovation, creativity, and effectiveness of ASA members' communications campaigns.

The 2010 ASA Staffing VOICE Awards competition is sponsored by CareerBuilder, an ASA corporate partner providing customized products and services to help staffing firms increase their exposure with candidates and potential clients.

Eric Gilpin, president of the recruiter business unit at CareerBuilder, was a judge of the 2009 entries. "It was great to see the participating firms leading the way in terms of effective communication to candidates and clients," he said.

RealStreet's McGovern describes the positive effect that recognition in last year's competition had on realstreetstaffing.com, his company's Web site: "42% growth in new visits...26% growth in page views—we believe that increased traffic was a direct result of the VOICE Award win. So, what did the win do for us? The numbers tell the story."

Entering the ASA VOICE Awards competition was a tactic that helped RealStreet drive traffic to its Web site without spending money on advertising.

This year, participation in the ASA Staffing VOICE Awards competition may provide the equation that gives your firm a new level of success.

A Win Can Multiply Marketing

A win in the Staffing VOICE Awards competition can help a company's marketing dollars go further to "turn economic limitations into very successful communications solutions," says Kevin McFadin of Fan Works Design, another judge of last year's entries.

"Times are tough for various industries," says Alease Dodd, director of sales for Clark Personnel Service, so recognition in the VOICE Awards is affirmation that "we have the tools to succeed." Her firm was honored last year for its direct mail campaign. The win, according to Dodd, has been a great selling point for suppliers and has generated a lot of positive feedback from clients. The company celebrated its achievement with the community by announcing its win in the local newspaper. "I really believe in this program," Dodd says.

The team at the Delta Cos., which received the 2009 Best of Show award, agrees: "The ASA VOICE Awards help to highlight our capabilities and serve as a point of differentiation in a competitive marketplace," says Mike Gianas, the company's communications director. Creative director Eric Sasser adds, "Being recognized by ASA as a leader in the craft of advertising is critical to our approach and how we do business."

ASA has a number of ways to help competition winners celebrate the recognition and multiply the marketing opportunities that a VOICE Award provides. The association created a special "award winner" graphic that companies can use on their Web sites, marketing materials, and more. ASA also publishes articles about the competition and winners in its Staffing Week newsletter and this magazine, and on the association's Web site. Award-winning entries are displayed at Staffing World®, the ASA annual convention and expo, and descriptions are featured in the program distributed to convention attendees.

"It is an honor to be recognized by our peers in the staffing industry," says Jim Young, director of marketing and advertising for top honoree Labor Ready. Young adds, "From our president on down, there is a sense of accomplishment in being involved in industry-leading communications efforts."

Entering: Easy as 1, 2, 3

"Creative professionals constantly struggle with questions about whether they're good enough," says Sasser. Recognition in this competition affirms that they are.

The 2010 ASA Staffing VOICE Awards competition is open to ASA active member headquarters and provides 16 entry categories, including direct mail, social media, public service, and promotion of ASA membership, to celebrate successful communications campaigns.

To enter, simply

1. Download the call for entries from americanstaffing.net. Click on Members, then Awards and Recognition.
2. Prepare your materials according to the competition guidelines.
3. Send your entries to ASA before Aug. 2.

Advertising or public relations concepts designed and marketed, or publications issued since Aug. 1, 2009, are eligible. Entries will be judged in two classes: independent staffing firms and national staffing companies.

Certificates of excellence and merit are awarded to the best entries in individual categories. "Crystal" awards honor the top campaigns and entries in the overall competition:

• Communications Award: Best campaign in each class that advances the overall image of the industry
• Best of Show Award: Best single entry in each class regardless of category
• Judges' Award: Single entry recognized by the panel for exceptional achievement

And beyond the physical rewards your company could receive, one of the most fulfilling aspects of the competition is the team work involved. Stacey Burke, vice president of corporate communications for TrueBlue Inc., a "crystal" award winner in the 2009 competition, says the company is honored to be recognized for a campaign that involved its employees. The power of camaraderie is celebrated in the company's win, she adds, saying that the VOICE Award that TrueBlue received is a reflection of the hard work and participation of its employees—it is "a celebration of their voices."

For a complete set of instructions, category descriptions, and an entry form, visit the ASA Web site, americanstaffing.net. Entries and fees must be received in the ASA office by Aug. 2.

Questions? Contact Reem El-Khatib, public relations coordinator, at 703-253-2047 or relkhatib@americanstaffing.net.

Reem El-Khatib is public relations coordinator for the American Staffing Association. To comment on this article, e-mail success@americanstaffing.net.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – May 27, 2010 – The Delta Companies recently received a bronze Telly Award for its ‘Not That Casual Fridays’ video spot to help promote the company’s annual initiative to raise donations for Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. 

The video originally aired at the company’s first quarter meeting where employees were given the opportunity to donate five dollars per paycheck to the hospital for the right to dress casual every Friday for the remainder of 2010.  Employees of the staffing firm responded in turn, raising a total of $14,000 for the facility.

The Telly Awards honors the best in film, video, commercials and web production.  The awards receive over 13,000 entries in a number of categories annually from advertising agencies, production companies, TV & cable stations, and interactive agencies.  Entries are judged by a council of past winners.

To view the winning video, as well as other videos from The Delta Companies, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVSK0RzKf0I. 

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Flex Travelers.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – April 9, 2010 – The Delta Companies recently published a white paper entitled “When a Need Turns Critical: The Delta Companies Therapy Recruitment & Staffing Survey,” highlighting the results from a survey of human resource and rehabilitation administrators who provided feedback on their most recent search for a therapist. 

The most notable data centers on therapy administrators’ timing expectations to fill their open position, finding that actual results average between 15 to 20 percent below expectations.  In addition, therapy administrators reported on the effects the vacancy had on their healthcare facility.  Respondents provided feedback on patient loss, remaining staff overtime, and loss of revenue.

For a copy of the white paper, please visit: http://www.tdcpeople.com/WhenANeedTurnsCritical.aspx.

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:          Marc Bowles

        Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

                        Four Hickory Centre

                        1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

                        Dallas, TX  75234

                        (800) 521-5060 x4102

                        PR@tdcpeople.com

                        http://www.TDCpeople.com

Locum Life
March 2010

Hospital medicine continues to top the list of locum tenens assignments, up 63 percent versus one year ago, according to a recent study by The Delta Companies published in The Physician Recruiting Standard. 

“Approximately 60 percent of all U.S. hospitals and managed care organizations directly employ or use hospitalists through a locum tenens agency,” says Robert Goin, director of marketing for Delta Locum Tenens.

Hospital medicine has sustained its ranking as first in assignments since the second quarter of 2009.

Both the physician and facility benefit financially from a hospitalist program,” Goin says.

For more information on The Physician Recruiting Standard and to request a free copy, visit tdcpeople.com/standard.

Delta Locum Tenens announced today that it has been named to Inavero’s inaugural Best of Staffing™ list. Best of Staffing, presented in partnership with CareerBuilder, is the nation’s only client satisfaction award that recognizes exceptional client service in the staffing and recruiting industry. The 2010 Best of Staffing winners are truly set apart from the rest of the industry through their extraordinary level of client satisfaction.    

“We’re very excited to have Delta Locum Tenens make the inaugural Best of Staffing list based on our customer feedback.  It highlights our commitment to continually improve our customers’ experience with us as we work together to build long-term partnerships,” said Marc Bowles, chief marketing officer of The Delta Companies.

Staffing firms competing to make the Best of Staffing list underwent a rigorous client survey process followed by careful analysis of responses to determine satisfaction levels. Delta Locum Tenens received satisfaction ratings of 9 or 10 on a scale of 0 to 10 from over 69 percent of their clients, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 55 percent. Best of Staffing participants secured their place on the list by exceeding the national staffing industry benchmark for client satisfaction by more than 22 percent.  

“This is a time when clients of staffing firms can and should demand excellence from their recruiting partners,” Eric Gregg, managing partner of Inavero said. “The $86 billion staffing and recruiting industry currently puts more than 2.5 million people to work daily and has become a fundamental component of overall U.S. employment. Inavero’s Best of Staffing program presents an opportunity for firms to differentiate themselves from the rest of the industry, recognizes excellence, and also provides invaluable information about how to continue to meet and exceed client expectations.”

Inavero’s complete Best of Staffing list can be viewed at www.bestofstaffing.com. For more information about Inavero, visit www.inavero.com.  To learn more about Delta Locum Tenens, visit www.deltalocums.com.

About Inavero

Inavero designs and manages satisfaction surveys for a global list of clients in more than 15 countries, with 5 different languages represented. Inavero’s custom created technology platform gathers and reports staffing firm client and candidate satisfaction information through quick online surveys. Satisfaction feedback from more than 100,000 accounting, legal, and staffing firm clients and job candidates is analyzed by Inavero’s team. Inavero’s client feedback system protects more than $4.3 billion in professional service firm annual revenue.   Visit Inavero on the Web at: www.inavero.com.

About Delta Locum Tenens

Delta Locum Tenens is the temporary physician business unit of The Delta Companies, a recognized leader in healthcare staffing since 1997.  The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:               Marc Bowles

                Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

                                Four Hickory Centre

                                1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

                                Dallas, TX  75234

                                (800) 521-5060 x4102

                                PR@tdcpeople.com

                                http://www.TDCpeople.com

Access to government funding is helping to combat the shortage of healthcare providers in rural America, according to the most recent data published by The Delta Companies in The Healthcare Recruiting Standard. 

“The ability for rural health clinics and their providers to access federal funds is driving demand in small populations, especially in the Midwestern United States,” says Matt Robbins, director of marketing for Delta Healthcare Placement.

Placements of healthcare providers in communities with a population of less than 10,000 jumped 15 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009.

“Some states require nurse practitioners or physician assistants in rural clinics in order to keep their funding and candidates looking to expedite the pay-off of their student loans are relocating to these opportunities,” adds Robbins.

The Healthcare Recruiting Standard is a free, quarterly resource that provides a summary of current data and market trends in the recruitment of allied, rehabilitation and mid-level healthcare providers. 

For more information on The Healthcare Recruiting Standard and how to request your free copy, visit www.TDCpeople.com/standard.

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:          Marc Bowles

        Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

                        Four Hickory Centre

                        1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

                        Dallas, TX  75234

                        (800) 521-5060 x4102

                        PR@tdcpeople.com

                        http://www.TDCpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – February 23, 2010 – Hospital medicine continues to top the list of locum tenens assignments, up 63 percent versus one year ago, according to the most recent data published by The Delta Companies in The Physician Recruiting Standard. 

“Approximately 60 percent of all U.S. hospitals and all managed care organizations directly employ or use hospitalists through a locum tenens agency,” says Robert Goin, director of marketing for Delta Locum Tenens.

Hospital medicine has sustained its ranking as first in assignments since the second quarter of 2009.

“Both the physician and facility benefit financially from a hospitalist program,” adds Goin. 

The Physician Recruiting Standard is a free, quarterly resource that provides a summary of current data and market trends in physician recruitment. 

For more information on The Physician Recruiting Standard and how to request your free copy, visit www.TDCpeople.com/standard.

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:          Marc Bowles

        Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

                        Four Hickory Centre

                        1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

                        Dallas, TX  75234

                        (800) 521-5060 x4102

                        PR@tdcpeople.com

                        http://www.TDCpeople.com

Staffing Success Magazine (November–December 2009)

The Economy of Effective Communications

The winners of the 2009 ASA Staffing VOICE Awards competition demonstrated that it is quite possible to "turn economic limitations into very successful communications solutions," said  Many staffing firms used humor, grassroots production, and teamwork to deliver efficient and cogent messages to target audiences.

Eric Gilpin, president of the recruiter business unit at CareerBuilder, was another judge for the 2009 competition. "It was great to see the participating firms leading the way in terms of effective communication to candidates and clients," he said.

The third competition judge was Chad Wandler, vice president of strategic services for communications firm Novak Birch. He noted that a competition like this, especially in times like these, serves as a reminder that creativity and strategy are the most important elements in standout campaigns.

"What the VOICE Awards competition provides is an insider's look into the staffing industry," said McFadin. He added that the winning companies "really know staffing, and really know their audiences, and their work reflects that."

The competition recognizes the vision, originality, innovation, creativity, and effectiveness (VOICE) of communications campaigns from ASA member firms in 16 categories, from direct mail to public service. A panel of judges evaluate the entries for

• General appeal and overall quality
• Content and message
• Originality of approach
• Target audience and objectives

In all, 13 staffing firms were honored in this year's competition. The award-winning entries were displayed at Staffing World^® 2009 in Orlando, FL, in October. The 2009 ASA Staffing VOICE Awards competition was sponsored by CareerBuilder, an ASA corporate partner providing customized products and services to help staffing firms increase their exposure among candidates and potential clients.

Top Honors

Awards of excellence and merit celebrate achievements in individual categories in the competition. Entries that display superior qualities overall are honored with "crystal" awards and top honors in the competition: the Communications, Best of Show, and Judges' awards.

• The Communications Award honors the best campaign in each class that advances the overall image of the industry.
• The Best of Show Award recognizes the best single entry in each class, regardless of category, in the competition.
• The Judges' Award is conferred at the discretion of the panel for exceptional achievement.

"It's exciting to see the energy within the staffing industry and the high-caliber marketing plans being implemented," said Gilpin.

Communications Award

Independent

Arcus

It's very easy to remember a company's name when it's stamped on the pen or mug on your desk, or on the bag leaning against your drawer—and it will likely put a smile on your face when the company name is holding mints, telling you happy birthday, or delivering a chocolate bar. Such positive reinforcement of the corporate identity, supported by solid information about the firm, made Arcus' "high-touch" campaign a branding success. Information that can be reviewed and implemented when needed is important to the preservation of a campaign's shelf life, noted McFadin. It doesn't hurt if some of it can be digested too.

The company's signature red arc dresses its leave-behinds and crosses over seamlessly to its Web site, arcus.net. Clean and interactive, the site provides a user-friendly forum for job seekers, employers, and media professionals to learn about the company's history, services, projects, and company culture. Arcus "put time and energy into its Web site," noted Wandler, "and that makes a very strong impression of professionalism."

National

Labor Ready

Labor Ready "produces work that not only fits with its industry, but also maintains its character—you know it's Labor Ready," said McFadin.

That is key to creating a cohesive and successful campaign. Images that resonate with the company's key audience are complemented by Labor Ready's corporate blue in the firm's NASCAR advertisements, branch signage, and company publications. Clever correlations like these filter through to the firm's winning "20/20 Focus" campaign and celebratory posters, designed specifically for its 20th anniversary. Informative, multifaceted, and fun—and all tucked under a representative hard hat that would make anyone wearing one as a Labor Ready temporary or contract employee feel like a superhero super worker.

To honor its super corporate employees, the firm produced branch of the year videos that showcased well-performing branches and honored them as the company's role models. Labor Ready positions itself as a leader in the industry by providing its clients with Staffing Smarter, an interactive and easy-to-read newsletter that shares valuable information and success stories. The company also connected with its community in a public service event that brought its clients and suppliers together to raise funds for a local charity.

Overall, it's the consistency that makes Labor Ready projects easy to identify, whether they are created for employees, clients, or the community, said Wandler. "The campaign clearly delivers a very favorable impression of the company and the staffing industry overall."

Best of Show Award

Independent

PSG—Professional Staffing Group, Other Advertising

Bright gold, bold black, and big round PSG stamps dress the metropolis and direct Bostonians riding buses, taking taxis, or walking around town to the Professional Staffing Group for the "best jobs" and the "best people." The company strategically placed uniform ads on various forms of transportation media, such as bus decals and taxi toppers, to drive its brand and message all throughout the city.

The individual pieces of this campaign come together great as a whole, according to McFadin, and present "a clear objective with a clear solution." The PSG transportation ads come together great as a whole, according to McFadin, and present "a clear objective with a clear solution." Wandler concurred, adding that the PSG advertisements simply "gets noticed and gets the job done."

National

The Delta Cos., Company Publication

A standard often represents that which is common or status quo. But Delta's company publication, the Standard, stands out from the rest and serves as a benchmark for the best. With a bold and uncomplicated aesthetic, Delta places the focus on the invaluable information held inside. It further sets the Physician Recruiting Standard and Healthcare Recruiting Standard apart by providing them free: The company notes these are "the only free, quarterly resources in the health care industry with a summary of compensation, placement data, and trends in health care recruitment."

"This delivers a great service to clients and positions the company as an expert in its field," said Wandler. "This is a great example of strategic communications."

Judges' Award

TrueBlue Inc., Other Advertising

For TrueBlue Inc., the art of collaboration builds employee pride—and 3,000 employees working together created a beautiful and interactive poster that unified six brands into one "strong" company. The company contracted with collage artist Jason Mecier, who melded together employee submissions of photos, business cards, license plates, nail polish, and more to create a one-of-a-kind piece of art. "TrueBlue Inc. does an outstanding job at being aware of the importance of employee morale and taking the necessary steps to make sure morale stays high," said Wandler. The company found special way to illustrate true-blue teamwork.

Winners by Category and Award

Direct Mail

Independent

• Berks & Beyond Employment, excellence
• Clark Personnel Service, merit

National

• QPS Cos. Inc., merit
• Randstad, merit

Print Advertising

Independent

• Berks & Beyond Employment, merit

National

• Delta Locum Tenens (The Delta Cos.), excellence
• Labor Ready, merit

Specialty Advertising

National

• Delta Locum Tenens (The Delta Cos.), excellence
• Delta Physician Placement (The Delta Cos.), merit
• Select Staffing, excellence

Other Advertising

Independent

• PSG—Professional Staffing Group, excellence

National

• Labor Ready, excellence
• TrueBlue Inc., excellence

Company Web Site

Independent

• Arcus, excellence
• Berks & Beyond Employment, merit
• RealStreet Staffing, merit

National

• Atled Finance & Accounting (The Delta Cos.), merit
• Health Care Placement (The Delta Cos.), merit
• QPS Cos. Inc., excellence

Multimedia

National

• Delta Locum Tenens (The Delta Cos.), merit
• Labor Ready, excellence

Company Newsletter

Independent

• Contact 1 Inc., merit

National

• Labor Ready, merit
• Pridestaff, excellence

Company Publication

National

• The Delta Cos., excellence
• Labor Ready, merit

Company Identification

Independent

• Arcus, merit

National

• Delta Flex Travelers (The Delta Cos.), excellence
• Delta Locum Tenens (The Delta Cos.), excellence
• Labor Ready, excellence
• Select Staffing, merit
• TrueBlue Inc., excellence

Media Relations Program

National

• The Delta Cos., excellence
• Randstad, merit

Public Service

National

• The Delta Cos., merit
• Labor Ready, merit
• Randstad, excellence

The Judges A panel of three judges—two communications specialists and one representative of an ASA corporate partner—judged the 2009 ASA Staffing VOICE Awards competition. Eric Gilpin is president of the staffing and recruiting group at CareerBuilder (careerbuilder.com/staffing), an ASA corporate partner and the sponsor of the Staffing VOICE Awards. He has more than 10 years of experience in the staffing industry, which includes leading a CareerBuilder team in the creation of customized solutions for staffing and recruiting companies. Eric is responsible for developing sales teams and strategies to help clients meet their goals and to promote the staffing industry overall. With people development and industry awareness as priorities, Eric is focused on technology, social media, and product design as key growth drivers for the staffing and recruiting industry. Kevin McFadin is co-founder of Fan Works Design (fanworksdesign.com), which designs Staffing Success magazine, Staffing World® graphics and publications, and other materials for ASA. McFadin has nearly 20 years of professional experience as a graphic designer and illustrator for clients of all types and sizes, including start-ups, national corporations, and nonprofit organizations. His illustrations have been exhibited at the Illustrators Club of the Washington metropolitan area, showcased in juried exhibitions, and featured in trade magazines for the art industry. A portfolio of McFadin’s work is available at kevinmcfadin.com. Chad Wandler is vice president of strategic services for Novak Birch (novakbirch.com). He has 15 years of experience producing effective communications and public relations campaigns for Fortune 500 corporations, start-up firms, and associations—including ASA. Wandler has played major roles in the association’s National Staffing Employee of the Year program, "Hard Facts, Human Faces" public relations campaign, and other media outreach efforts. He previously had worked with a major Manhattan public relations firm and had served as deputy press secretary to Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT).

PrintThis     

The Delta Companies recently made the Dallas 100 list of fastest-growing private companies.  The healthcare staffing firm ranks 20th on the current list and has now made the list six out of the last seven years.

Companies who make the list are chosen solely on increased growth in sales over a three year period.  The Dallas 100 is compiled annually by The Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship at the Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business and The Dallas Business Journal. 

For more information on the The Delta Companies, visit www.TDCpeople.com.

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:          Marc Bowles

        Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

                        Four Hickory Centre

                        1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

                        Dallas, TX  75234

                        (800) 521-5060 x4102

                        PR@tdcpeople.com

                        http://www.TDCpeople.com

In a recent survey published by The Delta Companies, the majority of healthcare administrators who were polled acknowledged that they do not have a formal retention plan in place to accompany their 2010 recruitment efforts.

The survey was conducted at the Medical Group Management Association’s (MGMA) annual conference this past October in Denver, Colorado. 

To view results from The Delta Companies 2009 MGMA Conference Survey, please visit: http://www.tdcpeople.com/White_PaperMedical_Groups_Ready_To_Recruit.aspx.

About The Delta Companies 

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:          Marc Bowles

        Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

                        Four Hickory Centre

                        1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

                        Dallas, TX  75234

                        (800) 521-5060 x4102

                        PR@tdcpeople.com

                        http://www.TDCpeople.com

The Delta Companies recently exceeded their goal of $60,000 in donations for the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in 2009 and will donate a total of over $65,000 to the facility this holiday season. 

The donation will be split into three types of funding for the facility.  A portion of the donation will be provided in the form of a check to the hospital’s orthotics department to purchase custom-made orthoses to patients with special orthopedic needs.  Part of the donation will fund “Camp Just Like Me,” a one-week camp for patients who have been diagnosed with the rare congenital disorder arthrogryposis.  Finally, a percentage of the donation will be given in the form of educational toys delivered to the hospital by The Delta Companies employees. 

More than doubling the amount raised last year, employees of The Delta Companies raised donations for the hospital through a number of events this year.  Most recently the staffing firm held a silent auction with the help of over 100 local businesses, raising over a third of the total amount to be donated to the hospital. 

The toy delivery and check presentation will take place at the hospital on Friday, December 18, at 10:30a.m.  

For media coverage or to learn more about this event, please contact Mike Gianas, Communications Director at (214) 442-4113, or mgianas@tdcpeople.com.  Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children is located at 2222 Welborn St., Dallas, Texas 75219.

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:          Marc Bowles

         Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

                         Four Hickory Centre

                         1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

                         Dallas, TX  75234

                         (800) 521-5060 x4102

                         PR@tdcpeople.com

                         http://www.TDCpeople.com

Nov 1, 2009
By: Meredith Bryan, Stefanie Nolen
Healthcare Traveler


Delta Flex Travelers recently surveyed healthcare facilities and providers across the nation regarding their views on supplemental staffing. Facility respondents consisted of those who hold hiring positions, including members of executive leadership, department leadership, and human resources departments. Provider respondents consisted of those in rehabilitation, allied, and midlevel specialties—some with healthcare travel experience, some without. Both groups answered their own set of four questions. The results contradict some common misconceptions, revealing what aspects of supplemental staffing are truly most important between them.

Assignment locations

One of the benefits of becoming a healthcare traveler is having the flexibility to experience new locations and practice settings on a regular basis. The majority of the healthcare providers responding to our survey stated that, when choosing a travel assignment location, it's not important to be in a metropolitan area. In fact, more than 85 percent of providers with travel experience and 68 percent of those with no travel experience confirmed they do not prefer to be in a metro location. This feedback is favorable for smaller-market communities that have been hit hardest by the healthcare-provider shortage.

The travel experience

When asked what aspects of traveling had the greatest influence on the overall travel experience, 52 percent of both experienced and non-experienced travelers ranked a smooth transition to a new assignment atop their list. In addition, facilities that are traveler-friendly ranked second-highest in importance among experienced travelers. These data support the significance of a traveler's first few weeks at a facility. Creating a smooth transition into a new assignment is affected by first impressions, full-time staff acceptance of a temporary worker, and worksite culture.

The largest discrepancies between experienced and inexperienced travelers can be found in many of the services that experienced providers have come to expect from supplemental staffing agencies. For instance, these travelers noted the importance of cleanliness of housing upon move-in, availability of their recruiter, and accuracy of payroll.

Having a retirement savings plan garnered the lowest response of all. Possible reasons include lack of importance to a group that primarily tends to be younger in age, or a shift in mind-set around financial planning that allows for more flexibility in compensation during the current harsh economic times.

Finally, providers were asked to weigh compensation against the overall travel experience. The vast majority of respondents stated that compensation is of equal importance with the overall experience. Only 13.5 percent of experienced travelers and 4 percent of non-experienced travelers ranked compensation as more important than the overall travel experience, challenging the common perception that travelers are primarily motivated by money.

Is making a profit the most important issue to healthcare facilities, or can this be a challenged perception, as well?

Importance of patient care

Patient care topped the list of concerns when facilities are understaffed, with more than 75 percent of those who took the survey giving that answer. Budget and financial performance was a distant third on the list of concerns, with less than 6.1 percent of respondents ranking this as a top concern when understaffed. Executive and department leadership answered almost identically to the question and listed patient care atop their list of concerns, even over their own staff morale. This viewpoint provides a basis for the use of supplemental staffing agencies when permanent personnel are unable to provide coverage.

Working with agencies

Healthcare facilities were asked what has the greatest effect on the overall experience in working with supplemental staffing, and the top three answers were quality of candidates, availability of the candidates, and price. Experience of the provider ranked a distant fourth in the survey. This supports the notion that facilities are finding value in using less-experienced healthcare professionals. Respondents seem willing to trade years of experience for younger, more passionate healthcare providers with the most recent training.

Cost vs. quality of provider

Finally, when healthcare leaders were asked about the importance of cost vs. quality of providers, all responded that cost is of equal importance to the quality of provider, or that cost is not as important as the overall quality of the provider. None of the respondents said that is more important than the overall quality of the provider.

Tips for bringing new docs on board

If bending over backward hasn’t always been part of the physician recruitment process, it certainly is today.  The physician shortage has put increasing pressure on hospitals to ratchet up their recruitment offerings, including sign-on bonuses, income guarantees, generous salaries, and housing assistance.

According to the 2009 Review of Physician and CRNA Recruiting Incentives, a Merritt Hawkins & Associates survey of 3,288 physician and certified RN anesthetist (CRNA) placement searches, more hospitals are offering monetary incentives to attract physicians.  For example, 1,650 hospitals offered sign-on bonuses to physicians in 2005–2006, and that number rose to 2,795 hospitals in 2008–2009, according to the survey.  Similarly, the average sign-on bonus increased from $20,000 to $24,000 in that same time period.

In addition, 31% of hospitals are currently offering hefty loan forgiveness packages compared to only 14% in 2004 through 2005.  Although hospital administration often has the final say when it comes to how much money the hospital spends on physician recruitment, medical staff leaders often influence recruiting decisions. Therefore, both hospital and medical staff leaders should have a solid understanding of current recruitment trends and what those trends mean for their facilities.  To find out what you need to know to make smart recruiting decisions, MSB spoke with several recruiting experts.

Do your homework on fair market value

When designing an attractive recruitment package for employed or private practice physicians, the first step is to determine what constitutes fair market value.  The hospital must analyze physician salary surveys and market comparisons from physician recruiting firms and the Medical Group Management Association.  Hospitals may also do their own research by surveying peer hospitals in their state or neighboring states to get a sense of what others are paying physicians, says Shannon Penney, director of recruiting at Delta Physician Placement in Dallas.

Fair market value is assessed on the entire benefits and compensation package—not just the individual pieces. Thus, if a hospital offers to employ a family practice physician for $140,000 per year, and the median fair market value for family physicians in that market is $160,000, it appears at first glance as though the hospital is low-balling.

However, if the hospital tacks on a $10,000 sign-on bonus and $10,000 in loan forgiveness, that brings the package up to par, says Penney. Staying within reasonable fair market value ranges will ensure that your facility doesn’t breach Stark Law, which limits funds that hospitals receive from physicians in an effort to ensure that neither physicians nor hospitals abuse business relationships for personal profit.

Fair market value should also be a consideration when a hospital offers a private practice physician a net income guarantee. A net income guarantee ensures private practice physicians that they will earn, at minimum, the average salary for their specialty for the first one to two years in a community, says Kirk Mathews, MD, CEO of Inpatient
Management, Inc., and author of HCPro’s PracticalGuide to Hospitalist Recruitment & Retention. “It basically means that as a hospital, we will guarantee that your salary never falls below X. If you make below X, we will write you a check for the difference,” says Mathews.

If there is one mistake that hospitals should avoid, it’s offering a noncompetitive compensation package. “If you’re going to err, err on the high side without breaching Stark regulations. Don’t be the highest out there, but be on the high side,” says Mathews.  However, there is a flip side to this coin: If the only card your facility has to play is the money card, it’s likely to see a lot of physician turnover. 

“If money is the only thing that brought a physician to your hospital, someone else will come along with more money,” Mathews says.

To find the right balance, chief financial officers, CEOs, physician recruiters, legal counselors, and medical staff leaders should work together to conduct market research and pinpoint appropriate compensation for each specialty in their given community.  Keep in mind that fair market value will vary not only by specialty, but also by market. For example, the average salary for family practice physicians practicing in the Eastern United States is $179,530, whereas family practice physicians in the Western United States average $208,996, according to the 2009 Physician Compensation Survey by the American Medical Group Association and Cejka Search.

Create a customized package

As long as a recruitment package is within fair market value range, hospitals can work with each applicant to create a customized package that meets his or her needs, says Machele Headington, MBA, vice president of communications and marketing at Yuma (AZ) Regional Medical Center.

For example, when Yuma Regional recruits a new physician to the community, it typically offers a net income guarantee. For physicians struggling to pay down their student loans or mortgages, Yuma may structure that income guarantee so that the physician receives a large chunk of the money right away. “Instead of getting the money at the end of 12 months, we might take the money we would give them during the 11th and 12th months and shift that to the beginning so that it looks more like a sign-on bonus,” Headington explains.

Hospitals can also offer physicians student loan forgiveness or housing assistance rather than a sign-on bonus or net income guarantee. Penney has noticed more hospitals offering physicians interest-free mortgages for a period of time by leveraging their relationships with local banks.

“I’ve seen housing assistance allowances, say $2,000, going either toward the physician’s current mortgage, a new mortgage, or rent during the relocation,” Penney says. “In the past five years, that has increased.”

According to the Merritt Hawkins survey, the number of hospitals offering relocation allowances increased from 2,815 to 3,222 between 2005 and 2006 and 2008 through 2009. The average amount offered for relocation has remained steady at around $10,000.

Offer nonmonetary perks at the start

When considering a new position, physicians often factor in how much effort they will need to dedicate toward building a new practice. Although income guarantees and sign-on bonuses often help alleviate those concerns, hospitals can help further by providing administrative services to get physicians off to a running start. Yuma Regional employs an office practice management support administrator dedicated to the task of helping physicians build a practice. This person helps the physician with everything from deciding what type of
insurance coverage to obtain to purchasing office furniture and hiring staff members.The office practice management support administrator also works closely with the physician’s family during their first year to ensure a smooth integration into the community. 

“That takes a lot of pressure off the physician in the beginning if they have that one person they can turn to and stay connected with,” says Headington.  Yuma Regional is also working closely with existing medical staff members who are in private practice to identify which ones are willing to accept a new physician into their practices. This practice is somewhat limited by Stark Law but has proven a successful recruitment strategy, as becoming part of an existing group provides new recruits the support they need to get started.
“We can’t pay any of the expenses of the current physician, but we can pay the new physician a portion of the startup expenses,” Headington says.

Consider the effect of recruitment on current medical staff members

When developing a recruitment package, hospitals need to take into consideration not only the needs of new recruits, but also of existing medical staff members.  If a long-time employed physician finds out that the hospital is paying a newly employed physician in the same specialty $25,000 more, leaders should expect an angry phone call. Leaders should address recruitment packages with existing medical staff members as soon as the hospital identifies a recruiting need.

Penney suggests putting a positive spin on recruiting a new physician. Frame the discussion around the benefits existing medical staff members will enjoy as a result of bringing on a new physician, such as more time at home and fewer nights on call.  But even that may not be enough; some hospitals will  inevitably have to sweeten the pot for existing medical  staff members by increasing employed physicians’ salaries  or writing private practice physicians a check.

“If the going rate has gone up, increasing the income of all the other physicians is going to eliminate turmoil and protect you from having your physicians recruited away from you. Recession or not, it is the cost of doing business,” says Mathews.

As you continue to recruit new physicians, carefully consider these tips to help you polish your physician recruiting strategy to make financially sound decisions for your organization and maintain collegiality within the medical staff.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – November 18, 2009 – The Delta Companies was recently honored by the American Staffing Association with the ASA Care Award for social responsibility.  The national award recognizes outstanding corporate social responsibility initiatives among ASA member companies that produce an overall positive effect on society.

Acknowledged for their partnership with the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, The Delta Companies is one of only six staffing firms to win the ASA Care Award in 2009.  Employees of The Delta Companies volunteer their time and resources throughout the year to participate in a number of events to raise donations, of which 100 percent of the proceeds are given to the hospital.

The Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children is one of the nation’s leading pediatric centers for the treatment of orthopedic conditions and neurological disorders.  There is no charge to families for treatment at the hospital which operates solely on donations to provide care to children under 18 years of age.   

The ASA Care Awards honor corporate social responsibility initiatives that involve employee training and professional development, community engagement, “green” business practices, philanthropy and more.  A panel of corporate social responsibility experts selects the winners.

ASA Care Awards winners were honored Oct. 23 at Staffing World^® 2009, the ASA convention and expo, in Orlando, Florida.

For more information on The Delta Companies, please visit www.TDCpeople.com.

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:          Marc Bowles

        Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

                        Four Hickory Centre

                        1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

                        Dallas, TX  75234

                        (800) 521-5060 x4102

                        PR@tdcpeople.com

                        http://www.TDCpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – November 12, 2009 – The Delta Companies recently competed for the American Staffing Association’s VOICE (vision, originality, innovation, creativity, and effectiveness) awards, honoring the best communications campaigns in the staffing industry. 

The firm’s in-house advertising team took home 11 awards in eight categories and won Best of Show, given to the best overall single entry in each class.  The Delta Companies has taken the top honor twice in the last three years. 

The enterprise and each of The Delta Companies’ four healthcare staffing business units were recognized in the categories of print advertising, specialty advertising, multimedia, media relations, web site, public service, publication, and company identification.

No other staffing firm was honored with more awards in this year’s competition.  The Delta Companies has now won a total of 24 VOICE Awards in the last four years, including twice winning Best of Show.

ASA VOICE Awards winners were honored October 23^rd at Staffing World^® 2009, the ASA convention and expo, in Orlando, Florida.

For more information on The Delta Companies, please visit www.TDCpeople.com.

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:          Marc Bowles

        Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

                        Four Hickory Centre

                        1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

                        Dallas, TX  75234

                        (800) 521-5060 x4102

                        PR@tdcpeople.com

                        http://www.TDCpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – November 9, 2009 – The Delta Companies recently released the third quarter edition of The Healthcare Recruiting Standard, a free quarterly resource that provides a summary of current data and market trends in the recruitment of allied, rehabilitation and mid-level healthcare providers. 

The most recent data suggests only a slight increase in compensation for therapists; however, facilities are utilizing additional incentives to lure and keep providers in a competitive job market and an economy which is still recovering. 

“Candidates are seeing more up-front money in the form of sign-on bonuses and student loan repayment.  Retention bonuses are also being offered, as a way to hold on to the provider long-term,” says Jaeson Babb, director of recruiting with Delta Healthcare Placement. 

“Facilities are also offering more creative incentives, such as temporary housing to attract candidates having trouble with relocation in a tough real estate market,” adds Babb.

In addition, therapists are experiencing additional coverage requests from larger hospitals than in the past.

“In the last edition we witnessed a jump in hospitals with greater than 200 beds requesting supplemental staffing.  This quarter the trend continued with another healthy uptick as the larger facilities continue to compete aggressively for both physical and occupational therapists,” says Bryan Davis, director of marketing for Delta Flex Travelers.

“Interestingly, hospitals in larger communities with a population greater than 100,000 increased their usage of supplemental therapists 12 points during the third quarter of 2009,” adds Davis. 

For more information on The Healthcare Recruiting Standard and how to request your free copy, visit www.TDCpeople.com/standard.

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:          Marc Bowles

        Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

                        Four Hickory Centre

                        1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

                        Dallas, TX  75234

                        (800) 521-5060 x4102

                        PR@tdcpeople.com

                        http://www.TDCpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – November 5, 2009 – The Delta Companies recently released the third quarter edition of The Physician Recruiting Standard, a free resource that provides a summary of current data and market trends in physician recruitment. 

The most current data shows that physicians looking to relocate are increasingly making their decision after just one interview.     

“You are losing if you are not prepared to impress the candidate and their spouse on the first visit,” says Ryan Tipton, executive vice president of Delta Physician Placement. 

Candidates in all specialties except surgery were placed after the first interview at a higher rate compared to last quarter’s statistics.  The largest decrease in second interviews was seen among sub-specialties, where the number of providers who required another interview before they were placed dropped from 31% to 18.9%.

In addition, providers are keenly aware of their market value in the current shortage crisis and are taking their time to choose from a number of enticing opportunities across the country. 

“No longer are facilities competing for physicians on a regional basis but on a national scale.  For example, the same Delta Physician Placement candidate interviewed in both Washington and Florida this past quarter,” says Marc Froehle, senior marketing consultant of Delta Physician Placement. 

For more information on The Physician Recruiting Standard and how to request your free copy, visit www.TDCpeople.com/standard.

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:          Marc Bowles

        Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

                        Four Hickory Centre

                        1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

                        Dallas, TX  75234

                        (800) 521-5060 x4102

                        PR@tdcpeople.com

                        http://www.TDCpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – October 13, 2009 – The Delta Companies will be holding its annual silent auction benefitting the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children on the evening of Thursday, November 12 at their office in Dallas. 

The staffing firm is asking local businesses to help in their efforts by donating items or making a cash donation, and inviting anyone to attend their Open House between 5pm and 9pm to bid on available auction items.  Past auction items have included event tickets, sports memorabilia and travel packages, as well as gift certificates and specialty items.

All proceeds go directly to the hospital in the form of educational toys and books that will be delivered to the facility by The Delta Companies employees during the upcoming holiday season. 

The Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children treats children with orthopedic conditions, as well as learning and neurological orders.  The hospital has over 40,000 outpatient visits and performs over 2,100 surgeries a year.  It receives no state or federal funding, and does not charge patient families for treatment at the hospital.  The facility relies solely on the generosity of those who donate time and resources to assist in patient care. 

For more information on the silent auction or how to make a donation to the event, please contact Shawna Steadman at (214) 442-4101. 

About The Delta Companies 

The Delta Companies (www.TDCpeople.com) offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:          Marc Bowles

        Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

                        Four Hickory Centre

                        1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

                        Dallas, TX  75234

                        (800) 521-5060 x4102

                        PR@tdcpeople.com

                        http://www.TDCpeople.com

Where to go

To be a traveler you need to be mobile, and you will benefit from being able to move to a new location regularly, bringing more opportunities. Mobility allows you to learn from an assortment of people who can teach you different skills and techniques. You'll also have the ability to share your own unique style and knowledge with your new colleagues.

Being mobile does notmean you will accept only traveling two hours from home. It means opening your mind to the entire country. At the very least, allow yourself to look at multiple states in a region. Obtaining a new license is typically not a difficult task. By planning ahead for time needed to process your application, you will increase the possibility of finding the job that best fits you.

This type of flexibility makes you a very marketable candidate for the best jobs. If you are tied to a specific location for reasons such as family, a spouse's occupation, or children, then travel may not be for you.

An adventure

Travel is an adventure and the reason many travelers have chosen this career. Traveling is a fantastic opportunity to see the country while working. You have the ability to live in an array of different communities, settings, and climates while working with a variety of people.

You must be open to newness and change. Certainly there will be anxieties along the way, such as a meeting new people, learning new processes, and staying in unfamiliar towns. But this is part of the allure of the lifestyle.

When you pull into a new town where you don't know anyone and your only connection to family and friends is the Internet, it is exciting and scary all at the same time. If you fear change and find comfort in stability, then maybe travel isn't for you.

A travel career is a great way to experience various settings to determine what you enjoy and where you can excel. It is also a fantastic opportunity to build your résumé. Many facilities require that you come skilled in certain areas, while others welcome knowledgeable, hard-working people who are willing to learn new skills. This type of flexibility will allow you to gain many different perspectives on caregiving from a variety of skilled practitioners.

Travel will not only help you determine what type of setting you like best, but also the setting in which you can thrive. Gaining this experience will enable you to find out what you want to do, as well as where you want to do it. Perhaps you are only comfortable in one type of setting or specialty. This does not mean that you can't travel, although it will limit your options.

Another upside to travel is that you usually don't get too involved in the politics of a location. Let's face it, many facilities come with their own political forces. As a traveler, you typically aren't there long enough to get involved in or lured into these types of situations. By the time you have all the players figured out, it's time to move on to the next assignment. But it's not all "water cooler" talk at work. You will also build long-lasting relationships and a network of colleagues. 

Compensation

It's hard to look at a career without talking about compensation. On average, a traveler will make 31 percent more than a direct-hire position, according to Healthcare Traveler's most recent Salary Survey.

One of the reasons for this is travelers' ability to accept tax-free money. The government allows for tax-free dollars for travelers living and working away from home as long as they meet the requirements. For more information on these guidelines, visit irs.gov/. (For more on this topic, read Tax Facts on "The 50-mile rule ad nauseam".)

Travel might be for you. Maybe you're still not sure. It's good to know that you can stop traveling at any time. You can always look for a direct-hire position or, depending on the circumstances of the travel opening, you may have the option to secure a temporary position full-time.

A temp-to-perm option allows you to assess a facility and get a feel for the people you'll be around every day to determine if it's a place in which you would like to settle down. It truly is a test drive before you buy. Keep in mind, though, that it's a test drive for the employer, too.

The best long-term result is when a temporary position transitions to talks of the provider staying on a permanent basis. A setting in which temp-to-perm is the expected outcome can work out great, as well, but comes with a word of caution. If your mind-set is to find the perfect position, you'll be disappointed. It is too easy to walk away. Everything negative is magnified, and in a normal situation you would work through these bumps in the road. But in a temp-to-perm assignment, it's very easy for the small to become big, and you decide to walk out the door. Approach the temp-to-perm option with an open mind. Acknowledge the positives and negatives, determine deal breakers, and decide what you can live with and without.

ModernMedicine NETWORK

TOOLS
Many travelers are enticed by the tax benefits of traveling. But taxes are complicated. To find out more about tax issues—and avoid an IRS audit—go to http://healthcaretraveler.com/audit/.

COMMUNITY
When your travel assignment concludes, so does your corporate housing. How can you make sure your departure runs smoothly? Find out at http://healthcaretraveler.com/housing/.

Traveling is easy, isn't it?

For many people the decision to travel is easy, and there are many reasons why someone would choose this type of career. But each decision is a personal one. Here are some time-tested ideas on how to make your decision:

• Create your own plus/minus chart.
• Talk it over with people who are close to you (family, friends, spiritual adviser, mentor).
• Educate yourself (Healthcare Traveler, http://healthcaretraveler.com/).
• Talk to recruiters.
• Talk to peers.
• Ask lots of questions.
• Interview—but be prepared to make a decision.

In In the end, just make a decision.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – October 1, 2009 – In a recent survey published by The Delta Companies, twenty-five percent of in-house physician recruiters say that providers’ concerns over healthcare reform have affected their ability to recruit this year. 

The survey was conducted at last month’s 16^th Annual Association of Staff Physician Recruiters (ASPR) Educational Conference in Minneapolis.  Attendees also provided feedback on topics such as their most critical specialties to fill and use of recruitment firms. 

To view results from The Delta Companies 2009 ASPR Conference Survey, please visit: http://www.tdcpeople.com/White_Paper_2009_ASPR_Survey.aspx

About The Delta Companies 

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:          Marc Bowles

        Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

                        Four Hickory Centre

                        1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

                        Dallas, TX  75234

                        (800) 521-5060 x4102

                        PR@tdcpeople.com

                        http://www.TDCpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – September 22, 2009 – The Delta Companies was recently named one of the Dallas Business Journal’s “Best Places to Work in Dallas-Fort Worth,” an annual list which they have made each year since 2006. 

This year The Delta Companies ranked twenty-ninth among midsize companies.  Employees were surveyed by an independent research firm and asked to provide feedback on topics such as the company’s work environment, people practices, personal growth and development, leadership in the organization, and employee recognition. 

The Delta Companies has also been named one of Texas Monthly’s “Best Companies to Work for in Texas” for the last three years, solidifying the staffing firm as a best workplace on both state and local levels.

For more information on The Delta Companies, please visit www.TDCpeople.com.  To apply for employment within The Delta Companies, please fill out our application or contact Julie Smart, enterprise recruiter, at (800) 521-5060 x4111 or jsmart@tdcpeople.com.

About The Delta Companies 

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:          Marc Bowles

        Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

                        Four Hickory Centre

                        1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

                        Dallas, TX  75234

                        (800) 521-5060 x4102

                        PR@tdcpeople.com

                        http://www.TDCpeople.com

DALLAS, TEXAS – September 16, 2009 – The Delta Companies will be joining employees of Texas Instruments, the Dallas Park & Recreation Department, and other area organizations to clean up Dallas’ Cottonwood Trail on Saturday, September 26.

Volunteers will meet at the Willie B. Johnson Recreation Center to work from 7:30am to 11:30am to clean up the trail in conjunction with the Dallas Park & Recreation Department’s Communities Against Trash litter prevention campaign. 

Once fully developed, The Cottonwood Trail will connect Preston Ridge to White Rock Lake, providing thirty-five miles of urban activity paths, reducing traffic and air pollution.  

Past benefactors of The Delta Companies Day of Caring have included the Boys Club of Dallas, The Children’s Advocacy Center of Dallas, and the Jireh House.

For more information on how you can join The Delta Companies Day of Caring or other philanthropic initiatives, please contact Mike Gianas, Communications Director at (214) 442-4113 or mgianas@tdcpeople.com.   

About The Delta Companies 

The Delta Companies (www.TDCpeople.com) offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and healthcare professionals through four companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, and Delta Flex Travelers.

Contact:          Marc Bowles

        Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

                        Four Hickory Centre

                        1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

                        Dallas, TX  75234

                        (800) 521-5060 x4102

                        PR@tdcpeople.com

                        http://www.TDCpeople.com

In 2008, The Delta Companies employees donated twenty-five thousand dollars to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of North Texas to grant the wishes of four children with life-threatening medical conditions.

The last of the four wishes was recently granted to Austin Webb, a young boy whose dream was to sit in the hot seat on the ABC game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”  The wish is number 4,000 granted by the foundation.

Click here to see the story of Austin’s appearance from Dallas/Fort Worth’s WFAA-Channel 8 News.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – August 18, 2009 – Inc. magazine recently ranked The Delta Companies number 1,093 on its third annual Inc. 5000, an exclusive ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies.  The staffing firm has made the list in each of the last three years. 

The Delta Companies grew revenue from $14.5 million in 2005 to $56 million in 2008 with a growth rate of over 285 percent, more than doubling the median growth rate of 126 percent for companies on this year’s list. 

The Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2005 through 2008. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by the first week of 2005, and therefore able to show four full calendar years of sales.

Additionally, they have to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independent -- not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies -- as of December 31, 2008. Revenue in 2005 must have been at least $200,000, and revenue in 2008 must have been at least $2 million.

For more information on The Delta Companies, please visit www.TDCpeople.com.   

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer staffing solutions for healthcare, finance and accounting professionals through six companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers, Liquid Medical Recruiting and Atled Finance & Accounting. 

Contact:          Marc Bowles

          Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

                          Four Hickory Centre

                          1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

                          Dallas, TX  75234

                          (800) 521-5060 x4102

                          PR@tdcpeople.com

                          http://www.TDCpeople.com

In locum tenens, communication and training are key to increased reimbursements.

In a recent survey conducted by Delta Locum Tenens, healthcare facilities and physicians nationwide were asked about how they work together on billing and reimbursements. Respondents from facilities included administration, human resources, and credentialing/privileging personnel. Provider respondents included physicians from a number of specialties.

Each group answered a short set of questions. The results of the survey help to identify common issues between the two groups that can be resolved by better understanding each other's expectations with regard to the subject of billing and reimbursement.

To view the full article, click here.

The Delta Companies Remains in Top 10 of Nation’s Fastest-Growing Staffing Firms

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – July 28, 2009 – Staffing Industry Analysts recently announced their annual list of fastest-growing staffing firms, or “25% Club,” which includes firms with a compound average annual growth of 25 percent or more between 2004 and 2008.   

This year’s list reveals that The Delta Companies is one of only four firms that have remained on the list since 2005, signifying at least 25 percent annual organic growth since 2001.  The staffing firm remained in the top 10, ranking eighth overall, with revenue of $56 million in 2008 and a compound annual average growth over five years at 58.8 percent. 

The firm’s continuing focus on retention and improving the customer experience are two of the primary reasons The Delta Companies has experienced sustained growth.

For more information on The Delta Companies, please visit www.TDCpeople.com.   

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer staffing solutions for healthcare, finance and accounting professionals through six companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers, Liquid Medical Recruiting and Atled Finance & Accounting. 

Contact:          Marc Bowles

       Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

                       Four Hickory Centre

                       1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

                       Dallas, TX  75234

                       (800) 521-5060 x4102

                       PR@tdcpeople.com

                       http://www.TDCpeople.com

Medical Economics recently interviewed Ryan Tipton, executive vice president of Delta Physician Placement, regarding their cover story entitled, "America's Best Places to Practice." The top 10 states were determined by evaluating overall compensation, malpractice liability insurance rates, cost of doing business, health insurance competition, and the mix of public and commercial payers, in addition to quality of life factors.

Click here to view the article.

Physician Retention is More Important than Ever 

Andy Guenther, for HealthLeaders Media, July 9, 2009

The challenges associated with today's complex medical environment are well known and widely discussed—declining reimbursements, increasing uncompensated care, additional government intervention, and a troubled economy all require a tremendous amount of focus from the individuals in the C-level of any healthcare entity. All too often the demands required in these areas distract administrators from perhaps the most critical issue facing healthcare over the next 10 years—retention.

The shortages in the physician marketplace have been debated for some time, but ask any CEO who is recruiting internal medicine, neurology, or otolaryngology if there are shortages in these specialties and the resounding answer is yes. In 2010, there are a total of 210 physicians transitioning from training in otolaryngology to the full time practice of medicine. With over 5,700 hospitals in operation nationwide, (90+% of which are actively recruiting) the magnitude of the problem becomes clear. As a national physician placement firm that conducts well over 750 assignments annually, it seems clear to us that a comprehensive, well thought out retention plan will be critical for all facilities wishing to succeed in the future.

In 2008, Delta Physician Placement accepted a consulting assignment with a hospital system located throughout the Midwest to review and evaluate both their recruitment model and their retention plan for existing physicians on staff.

Of the hospitals surveyed, every facility indicated that their retention practices lacked structure, focus, and content. In fact, most of the facilities surveyed did not have a formalized retention plan on paper that was communicated across all organizational levels. This is not meant to convey that it wasn't an issue of importance for the system; instead it was not given the level of priority tasking necessary in today's environment.

Following completion of the consulting assignment, several key points were outlined as being critical in establishing a successful retention program:

A Formalized O3. (One on One) This process should be implemented during the first year of service. These sessions should take place at the 30, 60, 90, 180, and 365 day marks. It is important to note that these are not intended to be performance reviews. Instead, these are meetings designed to "check the pulse" of the physician and gain an understanding of the good, the bad, and the ugly from his or her point of view. The keys to good 03 sessions are simple: they are regularly scheduled; never missed; the primary focus is on the new physician; and careful, complete note taking and follow up is essential. By approaching the one-on-one process in this manner, facilities will see greater engagement and more collaboration from their new hires.

On Board for Success. Define and document a formalized on-boarding process for new physicians. Set them up for success from the beginning and you will be rewarded with a long-term provider. Successful facilities recognize that not one person can oversee the recruitment and liaison functions. This liaison function oversees both the physician's integration into the medical community and makes certain that the spouse and children are integrating into the community as well.

Don't Forget the Better Half. Formalized O3 meetings with the spouse/partner of the physician are also critical. While these do not need to occur with the same regularity as the physician, they should still be implemented at three month intervals over the first year of service.

The Pursuit of Happiness. Recognize that a positive, energized staff leads to the same sense of purpose within your physician structure. It is critical that facilities not kid themselves. Medicine is full of unique and different challenges that cannot always be foreseen. The energy created through growth and development of the staff is transferrable and can mean the world to a physician when times are tough.

Clean your own House. Hospital administration must be aware and understand the pressures physicians face. Reducing that pressure through effective supply management, IT support, and custodial services can make a huge impact in influencing retention.

Open Forums Work. A well marketed, inviting and open forum for physicians can foster an environment of trust. It is critical that administrators "close the loop" on feedback and ideas. Failure to do so will dramatically reduce trust and can be detrimental to the long term prospects for a physician. A very consistent comment made by physicians to recruiters is that their current hospital "just doesn't listen." Are you listening?

Generational Issues Matter. The perspective and reality of a Generation X physician varies wildly from those of a "Millennial" or those of a Baby Boomer physician. Understanding what is important to each generation can absolutely make the difference in a physician deciding to stay or leave a community.

Learn when they do Leave. All facilities will have providers who leave even under the best of circumstances. The very best organizations strive to learn something from each and every event. Exit interviews can give a facility unique insight into the mind of a physician.

Invite them Back. Just because a provider leaves your facility does not mean he or she cannot remain a member of the family. Thorough follow up with past members of your staff can give your facility both a leg up on securing a physician's return or a unique advantage in securing other providers who are close with your former employee. Does your facility have an alumni program? Do you invite them back for special events, holiday parties, etc.? These types of activities will create influencers and word of mouth advertising that is invaluable in today's market.

"We get far superior cooperation with kindness and communication," said one administrator in the St. Louis metropolitan area. "I'll ask my doctors what is lacking in our system that prevents them from getting their job done. You can change the relationship, but you do it with actions, not words."

It is easy for a facility to become fixated on short term issues or results, but a long term view needs to be a critical part of a facility's focus. Recognition at the national level that the shortages are real and legislation designed to improve physician supply seem to be imminent, but the length of time that these solutions will take to implement presents a challenge not easily surmountable. Those facilities with clearly defined goals and objectives in the arena of retention will consistently excel in physician relations, have greater buy-in for key initiatives (i.e., quality, pay for performance) and outperform peers who don't take the same steps. 

---

Andy Guenther is a recruiting team lead with Delta Physician Placement, the full-service physician search firm of The Delta Companies, and is a member of The Delta Companies Thought Leadership Council.

Delta Flex Travelers Conducts Survey on Supplemental Staffing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – July 2, 2009 – Delta Flex Travelers recently published results from a survey taken by healthcare facilities and providers regarding their views on supplemental staffing. 

The results of the survey have been released in a white paper entitled, “Things Are Not Always What They Seem: Common Misconceptions in Supplemental Staffing,” and reveals what aspects of supplemental staffing are truly most important between them.

For a copy of the white paper, please visit http://www.flextravelers.com/CommonMisconceptions.aspx. 

About Delta Flex Travelers
Delta Flex Travelers employs temporary healthcare professionals for The Delta Companies.   The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and healthcare professionals through five companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers and Liquid Medical Recruiting.

Contact:          Marc Bowles        
                       Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies
                       Four Hickory Centre
                       1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175
                       Dallas, TX  75234 
                       (800) 521-5060 x4102
                       PR@TDCpeople.com
                       http://www.TDCpeople.com

###

Delta Locum Tenens Conducts Survey on Healthcare Billing & Reimbursements

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – July 1, 2009 – Delta Locum Tenens recently published results from a survey regarding how healthcare facilities and providers work together on billing and reimbursements. 

The results of the survey have been released in a white paper entitled, “Locum Tenens: Communication and Training is Key to Increased Reimbursements,” and helps to identify some common issues between hospitals and physicians that can be resolved from a better understanding of each other’s expectations on the subject of billing and reimbursements. 

For a copy of the white paper, please visit http://www.deltalocums.com/CommunicationandTraining.aspx.

About Delta Locum Tenens

Delta Locum Tenens is the temporary physician business unit of The Delta Companies.   The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and healthcare professionals through five companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers and Liquid Medical Recruiting.

Contact:          Marc Bowles

        Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

                        Four Hickory Centre

                        1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

                        Dallas, TX  75234

                        (800) 521-5060 x4102

                        PR@TDCpeople.com  

                        http://www.TDCpeople.com

###

 
Issue Date: Staffing Industry Review Magazine
July 2009 Issue, Posted On: 6/29/2009

Measuring the Health of Healthcare Staffing, SI Review July 2009

By Julie McCoy

Early this year, Joe Boshart was forced to do something he's never had to do in the 16 years he's been in healthcare staffing. In January the CEO of Boca Raton FL-based Cross Country Healthcare had to lay off some of his company's internal staff -- 6% to be exact -- because of the recession. "It was not a good day," he admits. Cross Country normally loses people through attrition, but business was declining faster than attrition, Boshart explains.

About half of Cross Country's revenue comes from travel nurse staffing, and between January and March demand for travel nurses was down by 50%, according to Boshart. He describes the current environment as "brutal" and the toughest one he's seen in his career. "Candidly, I don't know how bad and how deep this recession will be," he says.

Healthcare Staffing Starting to Get Sick
Many healthcare staffing firms, like Cross Country, have been hit by the economic downturn. After several years of growth, healthcare staffing revenue is expected to decline 23% this year, according to Staffing Industry Analysts, the publisher of this magazine. Healthcare staffing is expected to generate $8.8 billion this year, down from $11.4 billion in 2008.

The two strongest sectors in health-care staffing are locum tenens and allied, whose revenue is expected to grow by 5% and 20% respectively this year. Mean-while the two weakest sectors, travel nursing and per diem, are expected to decline by 33%.

"The physician area is the hottest; nursing is the coolest. Allied health is warm to hot," says Rick Jackson, CEO of Alpharetta GA-based Jackson Healthcare. Adds Cross Country's Boshart: "Physicians are a revenue generator. Most nurses are a cost generator. You want more physicians and less nursing. Allied is somewhere in between."

While healthcare staffing overall is down, it is still doing better than other sectors of staffing. Staffing Industry Analysts predicts industrial staffing to be down 24% this year, while office/clerical staffing is expected to dip 25%, and finance/accounting staffing is forecast to take a 25% hit.

The healthcare industry continues to add jobs in the recession -- just not nearly as many as in the past. In March, for example, healthcare added 13,500 jobs, whereas last year the industry added, on average, more than 30,000 jobs per month, according to Bob Livonius, CEO of Medfinders, formerly Nursefinders. "The slowdown is significant, but the fact that it's [the healthcare industry is] still growing is a good thing," says Livonius. "That means this is a place where people can still find employment."

The number of hospital workers de-creased by 700 in March, Livonius says, but that's less than one-tenth of a percent of the total workforce, he points out. "Seven hundred people is pretty insignificant," he says. "We don't believe those were clinical positions."

Challenges
One of the challenges that healthcare staffing is facing right now is that people are losing their jobs, and therefore their health insurance, so they're going to the doctor less, says Mark Stagen, CEO of Marina del Rey CA-based Emerald Health Services.

Another challenge is that hospitals are cutting back on their use of temp-orary workers because their revenue is down, Stagen points out. "They can't issue bonds or borrow money. Their endowments are down significantly. Endowments usually account for a big chunk of their budget." Cross Country's Boshart says: "Hospitals have really hit the wall because of the credit crisis. Hospitals are seeing a four-fold increase in interest rates and thus interest cost to finance short-term liquidity. That's a new variable we've never dealt with before."

Also adding to the revenue shortfall that hospitals are experiencing is that they aren't getting reimbursed adequately compared to the expenses they incur, points out Andrea Boehme-Hernandez, president and CEO of North Carolina-based Medstaff. "Reimbursement can put a stress or strain on the hospital itself, and that can cause them difficulty in hav-ing the ability to bring more doctors in," she says. "That means the existing doctors have to take on more patients."

Kathleen Gilmartin, CEO of Sunrise FL-based Interim Healthcare, says managing costs and trying to keep clients have posed challenges for her company. Medstaff's Boehme-Hernandez says she's been able to keep existing clients because she has a long-standing history with them but that adding new clients has been hard. "For now, new business development is slow," she says.

Steve Swan, president of Valley Healthcare Systems in Gold River CA, says the high cost of workers compensation in his state and the possibility that it could get even higher is a challenge for his company. Also, shrinking gross margins are a concern for healthcare staffing com-panies in general, Swan says.

Susie Brown, chief operating officer of Huntsville AL-based D and Y Staffing, says communicating and working at a time when there are more questions than answers is challenging. Brown -- who has been with her company for nearly 18 years and endured her fair share of recessions -- says this one has the most unknowns. "I think it's provided a greater level of anxiety than in the past. There's a higher level of uncertainty. It just raises more questions than we've seen in the past."

Trends
What are some trends that are taking place in healthcare staffing right now? For one thing, companies that used to do nurse staffing are switching to allied staffing because it's doing better, says Jeff Bowling, CEO of The Delta Companies. Also, a lot of non-healthcare staffing companies are talking about entering the allied and locum spaces, Bowling points out.

"They'll be in and out of the allied space before we know it," he says. "In the locum space, that is such a different animal than travel or per diem that we're afraid that they're going to leave the customer with a bad taste in their mouth in the long-term. We're just concerned about what it's going to do to insurance rates down the road, to the image or the brand of locum tenens. Not to our brand, but to the industry's image. That's at risk. It's not as easy as it looks. People see the growth and the margins and they run to it, but it's very complex and very risky."

Another trend is that hospitals are being more cost-conscious, says David Baldridge, president of CompHealth's locum tenens division. Now more than ever, hospitals are looking at how they're spending their money and making sure they're not wasting it, he points out. "Everyone is looking at costs and figuring out how to manage those," he says. "All costs need to be scrutinized and looked at. Everything has to go through a much more rigorous approval process. There's more scrutiny on [whether or not] you need to bring on another locum tenens physician. A locum tenens physician is a revenue generator and will offset expenses."

Hospitals also are putting more emphasis on internal float pools and not using temporary workers as much, says Medfinder's Livonius.

Peter Dameris, CEO of Calabasas CA-based On Assignment, says nurses are asking for more hours, and some retired nurses are seeking to rejoin the workforce. "They had retired thinking they were okay [financially]," he says. "Now they're thinking that they should go back to work." He adds that, "Nurses are willing to work for less because there are fewer opportunities, and they want to work. Supply has increased; demand has dropped. That means more nurses are willing to work for a different price than they were just three or four months ago."

Some Still Growing, but at a Slower Rate
Healthcare staffing companies have still been able to grow in these difficult economic times. It's just that they're growing at a slower rate than they have in the past. The Delta Cos., which generated $55 million in 2008, expects its revenue to reach $70 million this year, according to Bowling. While that approximately 25% growth is good, it's not anywhere near the on average 60% growth that the company has experienced the past five years, Bowling points out. "Job orders are down, even for us -- less so in locums than allied," he says. "We're working harder to have the same level of growth, the same level of revenue."

Bowling says his company has continued to grow because it's focusing on the allied and physician space and not nursing, and in general is aware of what's happening in the healthcare sector. "We're running the bases with our heads up," says Bowling. "We're very cognizant of what's going on around us." The Delta Cos. hired 45 internal staff companywide between January and April, bringing the total to 245.

Jackson Healthcare expects revenue to grow 10% to 15% this year, down from the 20% to 30% growth it has experienced in previous years, according to Jackson. Jackson says this has been one of the most challenging years he's experienced in the 30 years he's been in healthcare staffing. "It was the most difficult year to budget, because of the uncertainty," he explains. Yet the still-growing Jackson Healthcare continues to beef up its staff: The company -- which started off the year with 500 people -- added 120 people between January and April but also lost 20 people due to turnover, so now it has 600 people on its staff, according to Jackson.

David Alexander, CEO of Atlanta-based Soliant, says he's hoping for 2% to 7% growth this year, smaller than what his company has experienced in the past.

Medstaff's Boehme-Hernandez says she's hoping for zero to 10% revenue growth this year, whereas last year she had 29% growth. "We'll be flat or a little better. There is no projection showing us declining. We're not showing any projections of loss."

Emerald Health Services also is still growing, but at a lesser rate, says Stagen. For the first time in its seven-year history, Emerald Health will experience less than double-digit growth this year, he explains. He has had to take some cost-cutting measures, including reducing his company's headcount slightly. But Stagen at least takes a little comfort in knowing that he's not alone. "It's going to be a tough year for everybody," he stresses.

Diversification, Niches Key to Success
Many healthcare staffing companies have found being diversified or having a niche to be beneficial, especially in these tough economic times. Soliant's Alexander says his company is diversified in terms of both the sectors it staffs and its client base. The majority of Soliant's business comes from allied and pharmacy staffing, which are strong. Just 33% of Soliant's business comes from nurse staffing, which is weak. Also, Soliant's largest client accounts for just 3.5% of the company's overall business. "The secret sauce is we're well diversified," says Alexander.

Interim Healthcare's Gilmartin says her company is growing because the majority of its business is generated from home healthcare. About 85% of her business comes from home healthcare while the remaining 15% comes from healthcare staffing. "It makes us more balanced," says Gilmartin. "We're not so vulnerable as a company. When staffing is on the decline, home healthcare is doing well. We enjoy that balance in our lines of business. Interim Healthcare differentiates itself by being in multiple businesses. ... If we had all our eggs in one basket, we'd definitely be feeling differently." The goal for Interim as a company is to have double-digit growth this year, but Gilmartin says she'd be happy if the healthcare staffing part of her business is flat. "I think it's going to be a tight year for staffing," she says. "I think we're going to have to be prudent with how we're spending resources."

TeamStaff has been able to weather the economic downturn because it has a division that provides healthcare and logistical staffing specifically to the federal government, says CEO Rick Filippelli. "We see strong demand continuing," he says. "You have more veterans returning, as people are pulled out of the Middle East. We feel we're in a good spot. We feel demand remains strong. We feel somewhat insulated from what a lot of other companies are experiencing."

Don Mooney, president and CEO of Nurses Etc. Staffing in Universal City TX, says his company also has succeeded by focusing on the government sector. "I think this is one of our best years. We've got some good people in place. That's one of the reasons why. San Antonio is still a good market, a decent market. We're slow to get hit by any upsurge or downswing. San Antonio still has a large military contingency. With the military, we're reconfiguring. The Air Force and the Army are consolidating down here. They're spending about $2 to $3 billion on construction of a medical facility. ... There's a lot of activity here. We're working in both the public and private sector."

Concludes Mooney: "Government is continuing to do well. I'm so busy writing proposals. It's just hot. If you know what you're doing and are good at what you're doing, if you're small and nimble and don't create too much overhead, you'll do well. We pay our people decently. We're looking for ways to do better. ... We try to create an environment where people want to be here. We create the right culture. We're starting to get the right people."

Slowdown a Good Time to Make Improvements
Valley Healthcare Systems' Swan says his company hasn't been idle during the economic downturn. Instead, it has used the time to make some in-house improvements to its IT systems. "Yes, this year has been challenging economically, but we can sit on our hands and wait for things to get better, or we can use this time to fortify the way we do business and improve both systems and processes," comments Swan. "It is statistically inarguable that the decline in [hospital] admissions is only a lull before the storm, and all companies in this industry should be improving their business in order to support their customers when the supply and demand disparity for labor once again becomes the greatest concern for the facilities we support."

Stimulus Should Give Healthcare a Boost
The economic stimulus package that was recently passed by the Obama administration contains $59 billion for healthcare, of which more than $20 billion will be allocated to health information technology and the creation of electronic medical records.

"Hospitals usually have backlogs of medical records and that impacts their revenue," explains Kristin Ellis, president of Kforce's health and life sciences division. "There's a more manual process. ... Now there's really money flowing to them to give them financial incentive to migrate their records as quickly as possible. It automates the payment cycles of hospitals. Some hospitals are more automated than others, but there aren't many that are fully automated today."

Tony Gregoire, senior research analyst with Staffing Industry Analysts, says the new initiative hopefully will cut down on the forms people need to fill out when they go to the doctor and could mean projects for staffing firms as far as IT implementation. Staffing firms also might be able to send temporary nurses to hospitals while their regular nurses are being trained on the new technology, he points out.

"When these hospitals and facilities undertake this initiative, they likely will rely on staffing partners to ensure a smooth rollout," says Medfinders' Livonius. "The facilities agree that having a competent expert by your side is critical."

Cross Country's Boshart views the implementation of the medical technol-ogy as positive. "As hospitals implement medical technology -- the more we see of that -- I think it's going to be helpful to business," he says. "That is what we are encouraging them to do. The situation is bad, but it would be even worse without these technology implementations."

The stimulus package also allocates $500 million to nursing and professional training, and of that, $200 million will be dedicated specifically to health professional and nurse development programs, according to Medfinders' Livonius. "We think this is good news for healthcare staffing," he says. "It means federal regulators are recognizing the importance of funding for education and building our own workforce versus going outside the country to get workers and living with the shortage."

Another part of the stimulus package helps workers who have lost their jobs by having the government pick up 65% of the cost of their COBRA health insurance premiums for up to nine months. This will make health insurance a lot more affordable for those who are unemployed. Right now, "people don't sign up for COBRA because it's too expensive," points out Medfinders' Livonius.

On Assignment's Dameris says the stimulus package will provide states with the money they need to pay hospitals. "There's funding that goes to the states so they can pay the hospitals. This will allow them to be able to get back to normal staffing levels. It's a liquidity event for many states so that they can fund their healthcare programs. Much of this money is not creating new business. It's just providing capital, so people can pay for their existing operation and run their businesses as if they're not going to run out of money. It has provided capital, liquidity to states, so they can provide a certain level [of service] without disruption. Do I think it's going to stimulate the economy? No."

Emerald Health's Stagen says he thinks the stimulus package will be beneficial in the long run, but he doesn't see it having an immediate impact. "Money takes a long time to filter through the system," he says. "It takes a long time for states to get money, and then the hospitals do. In general, it's all positive -- long-term. I just don't see any of it happening quickly. Hospitals are going to have more money, which is a good thing because they're our clients."

Although the recession is taking a toll on healthcare staffing, those in the industry know that eventually things will get better. They see the silver lining and are looking forward to when the economy improves and business picks up again. "Ultimately, it's a good industry to be in," says Medstaff's Boehme-Hernandez. "When we get through this recession, it will be a good industry to be in." Adds TeamStaff's Filippelli: "I believe in the long-term dynamics of the industry. There are definitely bumps in the road that everyone is experiencing. [But] I like our mix. I plan to be here awhile."

Trends

• Healthcare staffing companies that used to be in nursing are going into allied because it is stronger.
• Non-healthcare companies also are talking about entering the allied and locum spaces.
• Hospitals are being more cost conscious.
• Hospitals are putting more emphasis on internal float pools and not using temporary workers as much.
• Nurses are asking for more hours.
• Some retired nurses are seeking to rejoin the workforce.
• Nurses are willing to work for less because there are fewer opportunities and they want to work.

What Hospitals Look for in a Healthcare Staffing Firm
From a buyer perspective, what do hospitals look for in a healthcare staffing firm? O'Connor Hospital in San Jose CA looks for a healthcare staffing company that is Joint Commission certified, according to Reiko Kawano, director of employment. In fact, O'Connor, which is Joint Commission certified itself, will only work with a healthcare staffing company if it has received the same accreditation. It's also important to O'Connor that the healthcare staffing company it works with shares its mission and values, has a robust pool of candidates quantity-wise, is responsive and has good references, according to Kawano.

Benson Hospital in Benson AZ wants to work with a healthcare staffing company that doesn't have a lot of turnover among internal staff, says Helen LeClair, director of rehabilitation.

One of Benson Hospital's clients is Delta Flex Travelers, which is part of The Delta Cos. LeClair says what she likes about working with Delta Flex Travelers is that she is always able to talk to the same person when she calls. "I'm not having to start from square one and having to train that rep in what I'm looking for," she says.

Other things Benson Hospital looks for in a healthcare staffing company include reputation, consistency, the ability to thoroughly screen candidates and friendliness, according to LeClair. If she calls a healthcare staffing company and the person she speaks with is grumpy, "That's not a good way to get my business," she says.

Longevity is another thing hospitals look for in a healthcare staffing firm, says Mark Stagen, CEO of Marina del Rey CA-based Emerald Health Services. "They want to work with a well-established healthcare staffing firm that has been in business at least five years. They don't want to deal with the new kids on the block. They're in no position to roll the dice."

Peter Dameris, CEO of Calabasas CA-based On Assignment, says hospitals also are looking for consistent quality, honesty and appropriate pricing. "They want to get what they paid for," he says.

Challenges

• People are losing their jobs, and therefore their health insurance, so they're going to the doctor less.
• Hospitals are cutting back on their use of temporary workers because their revenue is down.
• Managing costs is difficult.
• Trying to keep existing clients and land new ones is hard.
• Gross margins are dwindling.
• Communicating and working at a time when there are more questions than answers is challenging.

Jun 1, 2009
By: Chris Miller, Delta Flex Travelers
Healthcare Traveler
Volume 16, Issue 12 
 
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the healthcare industry grew by 40,000-plus jobs from January to April of this year. We are not receding like many other industries, rather simply slowing down compared with past growth.

A year ago this industry was adding more than 90,000 jobs a quarter, and healthcare professionals had their pick of how and where they wanted to work. These days, healthcare professionals are getting laid off or taking salary cutbacks because of the current economic woes. On the other hand, the travel industry is seeing a huge increase in the number of opportunities, and travelers are not letting this economic struggle affect their professional growth or financial gain.

Time for flexible travelers

According to the BLS report, the unemployment rate increased again in March from 8.1 percent to 8.5 percent, and other industries lost 663,000 jobs nationwide last month. A rise in unemployment causes an increase in uninsured patients, resulting in fewer elective procedures and fewer patients in hospitals.

According to the American Hospital Association (AHA) Rapid Response Survey, 53 percent of hospitals across the United States are making reductions to their staff because of a lack of patients. With the number of new professionals looking for employment, now more than ever is the time for travelers to be flexible. Here are some tips to stay ahead of the game:

1. Keep all licenses active (this broadens your job market and availability for a quick start).
2. Be flexible and open-minded to new opportunities (see how they benefit your professional career).
3. Have a positive and understanding attitude (every facility is going to have unique procedures and personalities).
4. Find an accredited travel firm that has received The Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval, is a member of the National Association of Travel Healthcare Organizations (NATHO), and has multiple nationwide contracts (more options equals consistency of work).
5. Expand your geographic expectations (gives you more job openings and more places to travel).

Facilities will take advantage

Despite nationwide cost cuts and reductions in staff, hospital needs are growing. Healthcare systems are now seeing the advantages of using travelers while census is high to balance long-term costs.

Patient care needs are constant and hospitals must continue hiring to accommodate these needs. With limited openings and a large number of applicants looking for work, hospitals are going to take full advantage to find that "perfect" person for their department. This is an ideal time for travelers to benefit from the current economic state and gain experience in multiple settings.

Permanent employees are limited to specific skill sets and have fewer opportunities for professional growth. A traveler with multiple setting experiences may be more desirable candidate for hire. Variety in workplace settings yields itself to more opportunities. According to the AHA, "The health care system of the future requires a highly trained and flexible workforce."

Travelers are the future

The AHA states that the wave of aging baby boomers will reshape the healthcare system forever. Advancements in medical technology and treatment styles help people live longer with a better quality of life. People today are more active and will continue to push the limits of their bodies' resistance well into their elderly years. This type of lifestyle will force people to manage more chronic conditions and therefore use more healthcare services. By 2030:

The over-65 population will nearly double as a result of the aging boomers.
More than six of every 10 boomers will be managing more than one chronic condition.
More than one of every three boomers—more than 21 million people—will be considered obese.
One of every four boomers—14 million people—will be living with diabetes.
Nearly one of every two boomers—more than 26 million people—will be living with arthritis.
Eight times more knee replacements will be performed than today.

Meeting these healthcare challenges will require more resources, new approaches to care delivery, and a greater focus on wellness and prevention. Travelers will continue to consistently have opportunities for professional growth and a diverse skill level that will enable them to adapt to this ever-changing market. This unmatched job security and job growth is just one of the many reasons why you should remain traveling if you are not already!

Mike Zagami, senior recruiter with Delta Locum Tenens, has been named one of the Recruiters of the Year for two years running.

"Mike is always professional, sharp as a tack, thinking four steps ahead at all times, the consummate professional, and able to juggle cotton balls in a hurricane. What's not to love? Plus he's a darn nice guy, too."

To view the full article, please click here.

In addition Dr. Faroug Suliman, a hospitalist with Delta Locum Tenens, has been named one of the Locum Tenens of the Year by the magazine.

"We nominate Dr. Faroug Suliman for Locum Tenens of the Year because he is well-liked, hard-working, and self-sufficient. Dr. Suliman began his work as a hospitalist with Delta in July 2006. Since this time, he has worked an average of 20 shifts per month while juggling the responsibilities of a husband with a wife in residency and three small children at home. Dr. Suliman has been a wonderful addition to these programs because he is available for last-minute needs and always shows up with a smile. Delta is proud of his accomplishments and we appreciate his loyalty." - Stephanie Glass, senior recruiter with Delta Locum Tenens.

To view the full article, please click here.

A year ago, the Dallas-Fort Worth area ranked as one of the hottest job markets in the country. But that was before the severe financial crisis, the collapse in energy prices and the U.S. economic free fall.
Little wonder North Texas is now losing jobs like the rest of the country.

"We've just suffered this rapid downturn in the last six months," said Cheryl Abbot, a Dallas-based economist with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Dallas-Fort Worth and the state as a whole still have plenty of underlying strengths, analysts say, and there are signs that job losses may be slowing somewhat. But it will take time to wriggle out of the global economic downturn's grip. That means the outlook for the rest of the year is subdued.

"The free fall seems to have stopped, and I suspect we're getting close to the bottom if we're not already there," said Lyssa Jenkens, chief economist of the Dallas Regional Chamber.

"But I think we're going to rock along the bottom for a number of months. What's going to pull us out? We're not going to buy our way out this time," she said.

Texas already has lost nearly 200,000 jobs this year, according to the Texas Workforce Commission, and is expected to lose tens of thousands more in the coming months.

"This is a particularly broad-based slowdown here in Texas; it's permeated all sectors of the economy," said Mine Yucel, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. "It's not going to get better soon, and it depends on what the nation does."

That's the bad news. The good news is that the Texas economy, with an unemployment rate of 6.7 percent in April, remains significantly healthier than the U.S. economy as a whole, with a jobless rate of 8.9 percent. Analysts say the state is apt to remain healthier than the national average throughout the downturn.

Moreover, Texas seems well-positioned to regain its footing when the recession ends. Job losses have so far been less severe than in many other parts of the country.

Much less housing wealth has evaporated in Texas, which did not see a major housing bubble the way states such as California, Florida, Nevada or Arizona did. The housing industry also is expected to recover more quickly here than in many other states.

The Texas population is expected to continue growing, and economic development officials are wooing employers from other states in hopes of attracting more jobs.

The bad news

However, the recession has taken a bite out of nearly all parts of the local job market.

The only major employment categories that are adding jobs are education and health services, and the government.

Among the hardest-hit areas:

*Employment in a category called mining, logging and construction has fallen more than 4 percent compared with its level a year ago -- a decline that amounts to 8,300 jobs.

The decline is more painful in Dallas, where many building projects have screeched to a halt. But Fort Worth may feel a chill from the decline in natural gas prices, which could slow drilling activity in the Barnett Shale.

*Local manufacturing employment has been declining for several years, even when overall economic growth was still strong. Recent decreases are driven at least in part by falling exports. During the first three months of the year, the value of Texas exports was nearly $10 billion lower than in the same period last year, a nearly 22 percent decline.

*The professional and business services job category has shed 25,100 jobs over the last year, a nearly 6 percent decline. The main reason, according to analysts: mass reductions in temporary workers.

None of that provides any comfort for people who need a job. Analysts say the trick is to look for bright spots within the gloom.

"I don't think it takes a genius to figure out that we have a rising unemployment rate, and it will probably continue to rise for the next few months and beyond," said Jeff Kaye, chief executive of Kaye/Bassman International Corp., a staffing firm in Plano.

"But there are pockets of opportunity in every single change," he said. "It's a matter of finding where those opportunities are."

For example, Kaye says, construction jobs have evaporated, but there's some activity in government-backed civil projects.

Alternative energy companies won't make up for the job losses in oil and gas, but they may provide opportunity for some.

And demand is healthy for accountants, auditors and other financial professionals, Kaye says.

Health field

The healthiest industry in terms of hiring is health care.

The broad category of education and health services added more than 15,000 jobs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the 12 months ending in April. Government jobs, the No. 2 gainer during that period, added 7,600.

Among the largest employers in Dallas-Fort Worth, health care providers posted some of the largest employment gains last year.

"People still need health care," said Mark Bowles, chief marketing officer of the Delta Cos., a Dallas-based health care staffing firm. "Health care staffing has been insulated to some degree."

Demand is particularly strong for physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, nurse practitioners and physician's assistants, Bowles says.

But here's the catch: You can't just walk into those positions after losing your office job. Many of them require the right skills and preparation, which can take years.

"To make these life-career decisions, you're often talking about a multiyear process," Bowles said. "I would probably put it in line with somebody who was going to go out and get an MBA."

By then, let's hope, the local job market will be much stronger.

By Jessica Berthold

Shrinking endowments, a rise in uninsured care, staff layoffs, declines in elective procedures. As the general economy continues to struggle, the tales of troubled hospitals are piling up.

A Thomson Reuters analysis from early March found that half of the nation’s hospitals were unprofitable in the third quarter of 2008, and the median profit margin of all hospitals was zero. These financial strains were observed in all sorts of facilities, from major academic to small community hospitals.

Not surprisingly, the economic downturn is affecting the way hospitals and hospitalist groups are recruiting physicians, as well as the concerns and demands of job-seeking hospitalists. Employers have stepped up efforts to maximize productivity in new hires and existing staff, while hospitalists are focused on the perils of switching jobs in a gloomy housing market, and the burden of high student loan debt.

“It’s still a great time to be a hospitalist; the opportunities are tremendous,” said Kirk Mathews, CEO of Inpatient Management, Inc., a national hospitalist management company in St. Louis, Mo. “At the same time, it’s more important than ever that hospitalists consider their options, and their personal and professional needs, very carefully before making any moves to a new job.”

Housing woes

Experts uniformly agree that the flagging housing market is the top concern for employed hospitalists looking to switch jobs, as well as for homeowner residents. That was definitely the case for Steve Seward, ACP Member, who found a job at Providence Hospital in Southfield, Mich. last July through IPC The Hospitalist Company.

“I was looking for a job in Detroit because my wife got a fellowship there. For sure, the biggest stressor was not knowing how long it would take to sell our old house in Columbus (Ohio),” Dr. Seward said. “We got lucky, though, and it sold pretty quickly.”

Some hospitals are responding to physician homeowners’ stress by offering to pay their mortgages or rent for a certain amount of time—sometimes in lieu of a signing bonus.

“These hospitals are saying, ‘We understand you don’t want to sell your house right now and take a loss on it, so here is a six-month housing allowance, and that can come in the form of either six months’ rent here in your new location, or we will pay your old house payment for six months,” Mr. Mathews said. “It’s a creative way to address the specific housing concern.”

The housing market crunch does affect seasoned hospitalists more, but those in residency are not immune, said Doug Smith, a search representative for Delta Physician Placement in Dallas.

“A lot of the doctors I talk to in residency had bought a house while in residency, so they will also still have to sell it when they go. These are primarily residents in major metropolitan areas, which are just getting killed by the housing markets,” Mr. Smith said.

A modest number of working hospitalists with less-than-satisfying jobs have chosen to deal with the difficulties of the housing market and economic downturn by simply staying put, at least for now, Mr. Smith added.

“I’d say, of the physicians I recruit who are already hospitalists as opposed to residents or international medical graduates, there has been about a 15% to 17% drop in the number who are changing jobs now compared to a couple years ago,” Mr. Smith said.

Adam Singer, ACP Member, chairman/CEO of IPC The Hospitalist Company, has also noticed a decline in the number of seasoned physicians looking to relocate, which he attributes to the housing market.

“It used to be a person would just get a job anywhere and move there, but they can’t do that anymore because they either can’t get into a house, or can’t get out of the one they are in,” Dr. Singer said. “We’re seeing a little bit less mobility.”

While there’s no denying the housing market is generally depressed, job-seeking hospitalists should keep in mind that markets vary in different parts of the country. A person might actually get a great deal in a new location that could help offset the pain of losing money on an existing home, Mr. Mathews noted.

“If you can withstand not realizing the full value you hoped to gain from your current home, you should be able to buy with an equal discount on the other end,” he said.

Retirement benefits and student loans

Retirement benefits are another major concern, especially for experienced hospitalists. Many older physicians now expect to work five to 10 years longer than they anticipated, because their portfolios got crushed in the market downturn. Yet there isn’t much a hospital can do to sweeten the pot, as federal regulations basically determine what can be offered, and to whom.

“With respect to qualified retirement plans such as a 403(b) or 401(k) plan, hospitals and all employers are restricted in what they can provide. There is more flexibility with non-qualified plans, but candidates need to understand the risks and benefits of these types of plans,” Mr. Mathews said.

As for residents, who haven’t necessarily built a retirement nest egg, some recruiters have noticed a heightened concern with student loan repayment. This, they say, probably reflects a recession-driven public trend toward not wanting to carry a high debt load. At Delta Physician Placement, Mr. Smith has seen a “huge push” by residents for partial student loan repayment in the past four months…and hospitals have responded.

“I have places that are offering $30,000 for student loan repayment, as soon as you sign up. Then they will pay $15,000 to $20,000 per year on student loans for as long as the hospitalist works there,” Mr. Smith said. “If someone can do that for five years and get 75% of their loans paid off, it’s a very attractive deal.”

Accepting such a deal is a smart move for hospitalists, he added, because once the economy turns around, credit will likely be harder to come by. Physicians will be helped if they have no or low-balance student loans.

“If you have a decent credit score but a $250,000 loan on your mark, your chances of getting a decent home or car [loan] go down,” Mr. Smith said. “But if you get that off your mark, you will be in a much better place in four to five years.”

Hospitals becoming more cautious

Rather than cut back on salary and benefits, some hospitals are opting to take extreme measures in response to the economic downturn: They are shutting down their hospitalist programs altogether. Typically, this occurs at smaller, rural hospitals, but it can happen anywhere—especially if a facility feels it’s not getting much bang for its buck.

“Hospitals have been hiring hospitalists to work seven days on and seven days off, which is the equivalent of 0.7 of a full-time person. So they have to hire twice as many people for the same program, and that’s why it is costing so much,” Dr. Singer said. “They are beginning to see this might not make sense.”

Other hospitals are hanging back on hiring more people while they see where the economy goes. A few have even reneged on employment offers when they realized they couldn’t afford another hospitalist, experts said. Still others are trying to squeeze more work out of their existing physicians by offering them production incentives for managing extra patients, said Sam Karam, vice president of marketing for Merritt Hawkins & Associates, a physician recruiting firm in Irving, Texas.

“Hospitals are trying to be more efficient all around, and efficiency for a hospitalist program means improving the physician-to-patient balance,” Mr. Karam said. “Production incentives mean hospitals don’t have to pay money up-front that isn’t guaranteed.”

One big expense to hospitals is in training a new hospitalist, only to lose that person after a couple of years. To combat that, some have begun offering retention bonuses instead of a flat-fee signing bonus, Mr. Smith said.

“After about three years, a hospital starts making its money back on a hospitalist. So these hospitals have begun to stagger it by giving, say, $20,000 on sign-on, another $20,000 the next year, then $10,000 the next year. Then as long as the person stays there, he or she gets a $10,000-per-year retention bonus each year,” Mr. Smith said. “I think the industry will really shift its focus more to retention than recruitment in the next five years.”

Advice for job seekers

Despite the challenges of the current economy, experts don’t think it’s a bad time to be looking for a hospitalist job. Demand is still high and good offers can be found at plenty of places. They do say, however, that hospitalists should be more deliberate in their thinking about the kind of place they’d like to work.

“Way too often candidates simply look at the call schedule, the salary, the vacation and the benefits, and that’s it,” Mr. Mathews said. “You should be looking at whether the community meets your needs, and if the hospitalist group is a good fit. For example, if you like to work hard and want extra shifts, will the group accommodate that? Really try to understand the factors that will give you good personal and job satisfaction.”

Job seekers should also look for a hospital where there is a critical mass of patients—and therefore of hospitalists, Mr. Mathews advised. A group of at least four hospitalists can share patient workload, while a group with only a couple of hospitalists may lead to burnout. Feeling overworked is one of the most common reasons hospitalists leave a particular hospital, he said.

“You want to avoid the possibility of being in a situation where the hospital is either unwilling or unable to get additional help when the workload gets heavy. So look at the patient volumes, or the projected patient volumes if it’s a new program, and see if that lines up with the number of hospitalists,” Mr. Mathews said.

Job seekers who own homes should also get a realistic picture of whether they will be able to sell their homes, and if so how much money they might lose on the transaction, before they seriously consider a switch, said Scott Hurst, Delta’s principal marketing consultant.

“We’ve run into this several times where we get a candidate, they are locked in, they are excited about it and ready to move… and it dawns on them they will take an $80,000 bath on their house,” Mr. Hurst said. “And all that does is create a miserable experience for them, us, and our client.”

The best approach for a hospitalist is to pick a community where he or she wants to settle and put down roots, so there’s no need to keep moving, experts said.

“Your reason for changing jobs shouldn’t just be that you are trying to make more money, or work less,” Mr. Karam said. “To make a change in today’s marketplace, you should be moving in order to establish ties to a certain area. Hospitals these days are looking for physicians who will be a good long-term fit.”

Dipping into the private practice pool

Recruiters report that the shaky economy has driven outpatient doctors—both general internists and family practitioners—to become interested in hospital medicine. Not only have their 401(k)s taken a hit, but their patients are cutting back on routine medical care in an effort to control spending. As such, a job at a hospital appears steady, secure, and devoid of the hassles of running one’s own business.

“We are finding pretty large success, even with our clients who have been unsuccessful with recruiting hospitalists, in sitting down with local internal medicine physicians and telling them what hospitalism could do for them financially and professionally,” said Kirk Mathews, CEO of Inpatient Management, Inc., a national hospitalist management company in St. Louis, Mo..

Certainly, that was the case for Ahmad Haq, ACP Member, who became the director of the hospitalist program at Martinsville (Va.) Memorial Hospital when it started up a little over two years ago.

“I was in solo practice on my own and that was burning me out, so it was either switch jobs or perish,” Dr. Haq said. “All the business aspects were so tiring. I wanted to get back to just practicing medicine, which is the fun part.”

Hospitals have also been recruiting from the family practice physician pool more readily—a change, since hospitalists have traditionally been trained in internal medicine, said Sam Karam, vice president of marketing for Merritt Hawkins & Associates, a physician recruiting firm in Irving, Texas.

“Family practice doctors are now welcome as long as they are qualified, which is something we didn’t see in the history of hospitalist recruitment until about a year and a half ago,” Mr. Karam said. “We’re seeing more and more family practitioners look at this option and be intrigued by it.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – April 9, 2009 – Atled Finance & Accounting has recently launched a new temporary staffing service line for finance and accounting professionals. 

Atled Finance & Accounting is led by Ty Chambers, CPA, executive vice president, with over twelve years experience in staffing and over five years  in accounting, including Ernst & Young’s Audit and Assurance Business Services. 

“Ty has a wealth of experience in this space and we’ve always proven to be successful when playing to the strengths of our team,” says Jeff Bowling, chief executive officer of The Delta Companies.

In the current economy, workflow fluctuations are an unpredictable issue facing many businesses.  Temporary staffing allows companies to fill their personnel needs and/or address isolated business challenges without committing to a full time hire.  In addition, temporary staffing allows the professional to try out a variety of work situations, gain knowledge and experience in many different sectors, and elevate their value to a potential full-time employer.  

Atled Finance & Accounting is the finance and accounting staffing business unit of The Delta Companies, the nation’s seventh fastest-growing private staffing company (Staffing Industry Analysts 2008) and 21st fastest-growing private company in Dallas-Fort Worth across all industries (Dallas Business Journal 2008).

For more information on Atled Finance & Accounting, please visit www.AtledFA.com.  

About Atled Finance & Accounting
Atled Finance & Accounting is the finance and accounting staffing business unit of The Delta Companies.  The Delta Companies offer staffing solutions for healthcare, finance and accounting professionals through six companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers, Liquid Medical Recruiting and Atled Finance & Accounting. 

Contact:
Marc Bowles
Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175
Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
PR@tdcpeople.com
http://www.tdcpeople.com/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – March 31, 2009 – The Delta Companies continues to make key leadership acquisitions, adding a number of significant hires and maintaining the staffing firm’s forecasted growth thus far in 2009.

The recent focus on attracting top talent to the leadership level began in late 2008, when the executive team was expanded to include Neal Ostman, chief financial officer. Ostman has over 25 years experience as a senior-level financial executive and has considerable expertise within the $12 billion medical staffing industry. He’s known for guiding a former employer from $70M to $300M in revenue.

In addition, The Delta Companies also added senior management to their Information Technology and Advertising shared services.

Mary Glover was named Information Technology Director and brings over 24 years of experience as an IT professional. Glover spent 16 years at Greyhound Lines, Inc., North America’s largest provider of bus transportation, where she previously held the position of Senior Vice President of Information Technology Services.

Eric Sasser has also arrived at The Delta Companies, serving as the firm’s Creative Director and leading advertising efforts. Sasser is an award-winning creative professional with over 12 years experience in advertising as an agency professional, freelance artist and leading in-house advertising teams. Sasser brings an artistic and innovative skill set from such agencies as Ackerman McQueen, and global branding agency J. Walter Thompson, where he spent four years as an Associate Creative Director. Throughout his career, he has overseen creative direction for clients such as BP Microsystems, Southern Methodist University and Hilton Hotels. Sasser’s addition brings an improved ability to provide innovative advertising solutions to customers with agency style consultation.

“Our goal is to be the best leadership team in the industry,” says Jeff Bowling, chief executive officer. “Our customers and our people deserve nothing less.”

The Delta Companies business units have also added leadership in their healthcare, finance and accounting business units. Delta Physician Placement named Brent Snyder as Vice President of Marketing. Prior to joining Delta, Snyder served as President of Access International, a management solutions and private equity consulting firm. Snyder also served as Chief Operating Officer at Pegasus Logistics Group, an international logistics firm specializing in time definite transportation services, and spent nine years at Franklin Covey. Preceding his professional career, Snyder was an NFL quarterback, drafted in 1989 and played three years with the Chicago Bears.

Most recently, Bridget McDonald was named to a Director position in Atled Finance & Accounting. McDonald has over 17 years experience in staffing. Prior to The Delta Companies, McDonald held the position of Area Market Manager with RemX. McDonald also previously served as a Business Unit Vice President with KForce Professional Staffing, a Division Manager with Accounting Solutions, Inc., and a Staffing Manager with Robert Half International.

For more information on The Delta Companies, please visit www.TDCpeople.com.

About The Delta Companies
The Delta Companies offer staffing solutions for healthcare, finance and accounting professionals through six companies: Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers, Liquid Medical Recruiting and Atled Finance & Accounting.

Contact:
Marc Bowles
Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175
Dallas, TX 75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
PR@TDCpeople.com
http://www.tdcpeople.com/

###

American Medical Groups Cash In Views
on Economy & Healthcare

 -------------

83% surveyed are concerned about their ability to provide healthcare under new presidential administration.

American Medical Groups Cash In Views on Economy & Healthcare

At the annual conference of the American Medical Group Association (AMGA) last month in Las Vegas, The Delta Companies surveyed attendees on how today’s economy is affecting healthcare. Leaders from healthcare organizations around the country answered four thought-provoking questions that provided insightful feedback on their state of mind in our current economic climate.

Concerns about New Presidential Administration

While still within the first 100 days of our new presidential administration, medical executives are already concerned with their ability to provide quality healthcare.

Reimbursements and a general concern over government control of a nationalized healthcare system were the top reasons listed by those surveyed. Reasons also included apprehension surrounding the future of physician income and anxiety over a basic lack of healthcare funding.

The Mortgage Crisis

Besides apprehension from a political perspective, healthcare’s c-suite remains challenged by today’s mortgage crisis from a recruiting standpoint. Only 10% of those surveyed said they’d considered funding a provider’s mortgage for a period of time to solidify their recruitment out of a “hard hit” housing market. Solutions offered by healthcare facilities include loans and temporary housing for physicians while they sell their former residence. In addition, some providers are responding to the current housing market by practicing locums when they’re unable to make a permanent move.

Temporary Solutions

Healthcare systems are also expressing their interest in temporary providers as a solution to permanent vacancies.

With the introduction of temporary providers to a facility, healthcare executives understand the positive financial impact that physicians practicing locums and mid-level healthcare travelers offer. Rising costs in a down economy and growing needs left unmet in communities nationwide continue to drive this outlook. From the provider’s perspective, the temporary
alternative is an increasingly viable solution as well. Physicians who have their lost retirement savings are practicing locums to rebuild their financial portfolios. Even doctors currently practicing are utilizing vacation time or weekends to supplement their income through short term assignments.

Decreasing Elective Procedures

The increase in unemployment, and therefore continued decrease in Americans without healthcare insurance, might be a cause for a drop or suspension in elective procedures for outpatient surgeries. However, this has not impeded most medical groups from recruiting more surgical specialists.

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies is a recognized leader in healthcare staffing since 1997 and is the third-fastest growing private healthcare staffing firm in the nation (Staffing Industry Analysts, 2008), offering permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through five companies: Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers and Liquid Medical Recruiting.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – February 26, 2009 – The Delta Companies recently released the fourth quarter edition of The Physician Recruiting Standard, a free resource that provides a summary of current data and market trends in physician recruitment. 

Primary care specialties take up five of Delta Physician Placement’s top 10 most requested searches in the past year, with family medicine and internal medicine holding the top two spots respectively for this same time period.

“Primary care physicians are once again in high demand,” says Jim Fuller, vice president of recruiting for Delta Physician Placement.

Due to the increased demand, salaries are on the rise for primary care physicians.  Family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry and OB/GYN averaged a five percent increase in compensation from last quarter. 

“Healthcare systems large and small are all seeking quality primary care physicians to meet local primary care needs and support specialty physicians,” adds Fuller.

In 2008, the need for hospitalists also continued to rise.  The specialty jumped four spots on Delta Physician Placement’s most requested list, and salary increased in both the starting compensation and annual compensation categories. 

For more information on the Physician Recruiting Standard and how to request your free copy, visit www.TDCpeople.com/standard.

About The Delta Companies
The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through five companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers and Liquid Medical Recruiting.

Contact:
Marc Bowles
Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175
Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
mbowles@tdcpeople.com
http://www.TDCpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – February 26, 2009 – The Delta Companies recently released the fourth quarter edition of The Healthcare Recruiting Standard, a free quarterly resource that provides a summary of current data and market trends in the recruitment of allied, rehabilitation and mid-level healthcare providers. 

Physical Therapy has remained atop the list of Delta Healthcare Placement’s most demanded specialties over the last 12 months.  Both Delta Healthcare Placement and Liquid Medical Recruiting also report the specialty as the fastest to fill in healthcare facilities nationwide, reflecting the market’s need for physical therapists.

The need for physical therapists in temporary positions shows that facilities are also not willing to wait to fill a permanent vacancy.  This trend is driving the demand of new graduates who are taking advantage of the healthcare travel lifestyle, while practicing in one of the hottest job sectors currently across any industry.

“Many healthcare facilities have taken advantage of the greater availability and lower rates that less experienced providers offer,” says Mike Kohrs, vice president of Delta Flex Travelers.  “These facilities are trading-off work history to gain access to providers with the most current education and knowledge of the newest techniques and treatments,” adds Kohrs. 

For more information on The Healthcare Recruiting Standard and how to request your free copy, visit www.TDCpeople.com/standard.

About The Delta Companies
The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through five companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers and Liquid Medical Recruiting.

Contact: 
Marc Bowles
Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175
Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
mbowles@tdcpeople.com
http://www.TDCpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – February 20, 2009 – The Delta Companies recently announced leadership appointments in both its physician permanent placement and travel healthcare business units.

Delta Physician Placement named Brent Snyder as Vice President of Marketing.  Prior to joining Delta, Snyder served as President of Access International, a management solutions and private equity consulting firm.  Snyder also served as Chief Operating Officer at Pegasus Logistics Group, an international logistics firm specializing in time definite transportation services, and spent nine years at Franklin Covey.  Prior to his professional career, Snyder was an NFL quarterback, drafted in 1989 and played three years with the Chicago Bears.

The position was held previously by Jim Fuller, who will now return to his former responsibilities as Vice President of Recruiting.  In addition, Ryan Tipton will now serve as Executive Vice President of Delta Physician Placement.

“These appointments position us to better serve our customers in the physician permanent placement vertical,” says Jeff Bowling, chief executive officer of The Delta Companies. Bowling will assume all talent acquisition responsibilities previously held by Tipton, reflecting the firm’s continuing dedication to recruit the nation’s elite staffing professionals.

A leadership appointment was also made in Delta Flex Travelers, where Ryan Anholt now assumes the position of Director of Recruiting.  “We’re ecstatic about having someone of Ryan’s caliber join our team,” says Mike Kohrs, executive vice president of Delta Flex Travelers. 

“The experience that Ryan brings to us from over seven years in healthcare staffing and executive leadership will be instrumental in helping us achieve our vision for success,” adds Kohrs.

For more information on The Delta Companies can be found at www.TDCpeople.com.   

About The Delta Companies

Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and healthcare professionals through five companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers and Liquid Medical Recruiting.

Contact:         
Marc Bowles
Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

Four Hickory Centre

1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

Dallas, TX  75234

(800) 521-5060 x4102

mbowles@tdcpeople.com

http://www.TDCpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – February 06, 2009 – Delta Flex Travelers is launching their 2009 brand campaign, Flexywood You’re On!, to the healthcare market through a blended creative execution that delivers energetic pop culture imagery, along with timely and relevant content to both providers and healthcare facilities. 

Flexywood’s stylish imagery depicts the A-list customer service and experience of working with a Delta Flex Travelers consultant.  The campaign is being launched through mass e-mail campaigns, a re-designed website, collateral material, and targeted promotions.  Delta Flex Travelers’ Flexywood campaign promises “red-carpet” treatment through providing such items as custom gift packages to all travelers on their first assignment. 

“We’re confident our new campaign is going to spark an interest with the most motivated providers to fit the unique needs of our clients,” says Mike Kohrs, executive vice president of Delta Flex Travelers. “Flexywood is a direct reflection of our internal culture.  Travelers and facilities can expect to hear the same enthusiasm from their consultant.” 

More information on Delta Flex Travelers can be found at www.flextravelers.com. 

About Delta Flex Travelers
Delta Flex Travelers employs temporary healthcare professionals for The Delta Companies.   The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and healthcare professionals through five companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers and Liquid Medical Recruiting.

Contact:          
Marc Bowles
Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175
Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
mbowles@tdcpeople.com
www.TDCpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – January 22, 2009 – Delta Locum Tenens is celebrating their anniversary in 2009, five years after entering the locum tenens staffing vertical. 

“I’m extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished in our first five years,” says Sherri Carlton, executive vice president.  “We couldn’t have achieved so much success without the help of many dedicated individuals along the way and we’re excited about what the future holds.”

Delta Locum Tenens has increased annual revenue to almost $31 million since its inception in February 2004, a growth rate rarely seen from any company in their first five years of business.

“The high integrity leadership Sherri has in place is evident by an internal retention rate of over 74 percent over the past three years,” says Jeff Bowling, chief executive officer.  “Therefore these successful and experienced representatives generate unparalleled customer experiences.  Delta Locum Tenens’ net promoter score is over 60, which suggests a very healthy business for the next several years.”

Delta Locum Tenens will celebrate their anniversary at The Delta Companies’ quarterly meeting on January 30.

More information on Delta Locum Tenens can be found at www.DeltaLocums.com.

About Delta Locum Tenens
Delta Locum Tenens is the temporary physician business unit of The Delta Companies.   The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and healthcare professionals through five companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers and Liquid Medical Recruiting.

Contact: 
Marc Bowles
Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175
Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
mbowles@tdcpeople.com 
http://www.TDCpeople.com

So you want to travel, but don't know where to start. Launching a mobile career as a traveling therapist or technician is a big decision that requires thought and consideration. Where do you want to go—east, north, west, or south? In what type of setting do you want to work—hospital, skilled nursing, inpatient, or outpatient? The answers to these questions are very important, but none is as crucial to your success as the staffing agency with which you choose to work. This single decision will have the most impact on your mobile career.

Think of your staffing agency as your personal GPS device to guide you through every step of your travel experience. Your representative will be your personal confidant and advisor, available to assist with any situation you may face. To select the right staffing company, you need to ask yourself some questions and honestly evaluate what is important to you at this stage of your life and career.

Ask other travelers

One of the easiest and best resources for choosing a staffing agency is other therapists or technicians. Speak to your peers who are traveling or who are previous travelers to get a firsthand glimpse into this career alternative. They will be eager to share their experiences, so don't be shy. Inquire about the companies with which they worked and determine what they liked about the lifestyle. Discuss their experiences in detail. Use probing questions to gain clarity as to why they chose their staffing agencies, location areas, and facilities. Ask them to walk you through their selection process. Find out what aspects were the most important and helpful for them.

Research online

Also, use the Internet to research potential agencies. To begin with, try Google search phrases like "traveling therapist" or "travel jobs," and visit http://www.HealthcareTraveler.com/'s "Career Center" to contact several staffing agencies simultaneously. Also, check your discipline's national association website. For instance, http://www.apta.com and http://www.aota.com are great resources.

When selecting an agency, determine if therapy placement is a specialty or a division of the staffing services offered. Find out how long the company has been placing therapists or technicians. Is it Joint Commission certified or a member of the National Association of Travel Healthcare Organizations (NATHO)? The Joint Commission and NATHO ensure staffing agencies and healthcare facilities abide by the highest industry standards. Visit http://www.jointcommission.org or http://www.natho.org for more info and a full list of members.

Talk to recruiters

After you narrow down your options, it's time to pick up the phone and call potential recruiters at staffing agencies. When you are introduced to your would-be personal advisor over the telephone, be prepared to ask questions as well as to listen. Inquire about his or her experience, the challenges that you may face, and how he or she will assist you during those situations. Ask your potential recruiter to walk you through the process of finding, accepting, and fulfilling a travel assignment. What expectations do the agency and the client facility have in mind for you?

Think about your expectations of them as well and what you want to achieve from traveling—and tell your potential representative. After all, open and honest communication between recruiters and travelers is vital. If you have any special requests, such as traveling with a spouse or housing preferences, speak your mind now. Finally, be sure to ask for references and to talk with other travelers with whom your potential recruiter has worked.

The goal here is to get answers to all of your questions and to get to know your potential staffing representative. This professional should be an expert in his or her field and will become a trusted confidant. When you converse with other travelers, expect to hear amazing stories about how a recruiter is always there for therapists or technicians just like you. Recruiters come to the rescue under the quirkiest of circumstances—like needing a toaster in an apartment or getting stuck in a snowstorm.

What about career-based issues? A staffing representative should be able to assist you with any concerns regarding obtaining state licensure and keeping current with continuing education. Of course, if you have questions about your new work setting—or if you just need to talk after a challenging day—give him or her a call. Recruiters are a vital part of travelers' support networks, there to help and to listen.

After you've conversed with a handful of potential recruiters, it should be clear who the best fit is for you. How can you be sure? The same way you know a friend is a friend; the answer is trust. Your pick should look out for your best interest and always be honest with you.

Get started

Before you began thinking about a healthcare travel career, the word "travel" probably meant beaches, plane rides, and city tours. Now, the term indicates career opportunities, change, new experiences, personal and professional growth, and excitement. Beginning your mobile career will be fun for you, so embrace it. This is your time, your future, your life, and your career. So enjoy it and all it has to offer.

Quick Tips

Speak to your peers who are traveling or who are previous travelers to get a firsthand glimpse into the career alternative.
Use the Internet to research potential agencies, and check for Joint Commission certification or membership in the National Association of Travel Healthcare Organizations.
Listen to what potential recruiters have to say, but remember to ask lots of questions as well so you can determine the best fit for you at this stage of your life and career.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – December 29, 2008 – Liquid Medical Recruiting recently promoted Matt Robbins to Director of Recruiting. 

“We’re thrilled to promote Matt to this position,” says Ty Chambers, executive vice president of Liquid Medical Recruiting.  “His focus and desire to be the best plays a significant role in his success and we’re excited about this opportunity for him to instill the same passion in leading his team.”

Robbins began his career with Liquid Medical Recruiting as a recruiter in July of 2006.

More information on Liquid Medical Recruiting can be found at www.LiquidRecruiting.com.

About Liquid Medical Recruiting
Liquid Medical Recruiting is the contingency healthcare recruiting business unit of The Delta Companies.   The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and healthcare professionals through five companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers and Liquid Medical Recruiting.

Contact:          
Marc Bowles
Chief Marketing Officer
The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175
Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
mbowles@tdcpeople.com
www.TDCpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – December 23, 2008 –Delta Flex Travelers recently announced the promotion of Will Ho to position of Recruiting Team Lead. 

“Will has been a key contributor to our growth and success since joining the team in 2007,” says Mike Kohrs, executive vice president.  “Through a genuine commitment to his customers and colleagues, Will has become an influential leader in our organization.  I am excited about Will’s growing role as a team leader and I anticipate great things in his future with us at Delta Flex Travelers.”

Prior to joining Delta Flex Travelers in 2007, Ho worked in allied travel staffing for 4 years. 

The Delta Companies has a defined career path and encourage promotion from within.  Employees begin as entry level representatives, and move through management positions into team leadership, as a precursor to director.  The Delta Companies is the nation’s third fastest-growing private healthcare staffing firm (Staffing Industry Analysts 2008).

About Delta Flex Travelers
Delta Flex Travelers employs temporary healthcare professionals for The Delta Companies.   The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and healthcare professionals through five companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers and Liquid Medical Recruiting.

Contact        
Marc Bowles
Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175
Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
mbowles@tdcpeople.com
http://www.tdcpeople.com/

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – December 23, 2008 –The Delta Companies recently made the 2008 Dallas 100 list of fastest-growing private companies, continuing to climb to this year’s ranking of twenty-first, up from forty-fourth in 2007 and ninety-fifth in 2006.  The staffing firm has now made the list five out of the last six years.

Companies who make the list are chosen solely on increased growth in sales over a three year period.  The annual list is compiled by The Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship at the Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business and The Dallas Business Journal. 
 
For more information on the The Delta Companies, visit www.TDCpeople.com.

About The Delta Companies
The Delta Companies offer staffing solutions for healthcare, finance and accounting professionals through six companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers, Liquid Medical Recruiting and Atled Finance & Accounting.

Contact        
Marc Bowles
Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175
Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
http://www.tdcpeople.com/

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – December 11, 2008 –The Delta Companies will be delivering their donation of thirty thousand dollars in educational toys to the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children this Saturday morning, December 13, between 9:15a and 9:30a at the hospital’s loading dock location at 2222 Welborn St., Dallas 75219. 

About The Delta Companies
The Delta Companies offer staffing solutions for healthcare, finance and accounting professionals through six companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers, Liquid Medical Recruiting and Atled Finance & Accounting. 

Contact        
Marc Bowles
Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 800
Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060
mbowles@tdcpeople.com
http://www.tdcpeople.com/

###

DALLAS, TEXAS – September 12, 2008 –Delta Physician Placement recently promoted Jim Fuller to the position of Vice President of Marketing.  Fuller first joined Delta Physician Placement in 2003, and most recently held the position of Director of Recruiting.

“We’re thrilled to promote Jim to this position,” says Ryan Anholt, executive vice president.  “He has played a significant role in the growth and success of our company.  His experience will prove invaluable to our people,” adds Anholt. 

Fuller has over twenty-five years of experience in healthcare as a provider, hospital executive, and manager of recruitment at Delta Physician Placement.  Delta Physician Placement is the full-service physician search firm of The Delta Companies, the nation’s seventh fastest-growing private staffing firm (Staffing Industry Analysts 2008). 

For more information on Delta Physician Placement, visit www.deltaplacement.com.

About Delta Physician Placement
Delta Physician Placement is the full-service physician search firm of The Delta Companies.  The Delta Companies offer staffing solutions for healthcare, finance and accounting professionals through six companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers, Liquid Medical Recruiting and Atled Finance & Accounting.

Contact         
Marc Bowles
Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 800
Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
mbowles@tdcpeople.com 
http://www.TDCpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – November 18, 2008---Delta Healthcare Placement’s Joe Brown was named 2007-2008 Mountain West Conference Male-Student-Athlete of the Year.

The Annual Student-Athlete of the Year award is the highest honor presented to a student-athlete by the Mountain West league.  One male and one female student are recognized annually not only for achieving excellence in athletics, but also excelling in academics, and community involvement.  Criterion for the award requires that nominees demonstrate leadership, character and conduct on and off the playing field.   

Brown graduated from Texas Christian University in May, after posting a 3.68 grade point average while earning an undergraduate degree in marketing and entrepreneurial management.  Brown began with Delta Healthcare Placement as an intern in the spring of 2008, before being offered a full-time recruiting position upon graduation.

“We’re very fortunate to have someone of Joe’s stature working for us,” says Bill Tracewell, vice president of Delta Healthcare Placement. 

“His competitive nature and desire to win will assist him in becoming a top recruiter for the team,” adds Tracewell. 

About Delta Healthcare Placement
Delta Healthcare Placement is the full-service healthcare search firm of The Delta Companies.  The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and healthcare professionals through five companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers and Liquid Medical Recruiting.

Contact
Marc Bowles
Chief Marketing Officer
The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175
 Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
mbowles@TDCpeople.com
http://www.tdcpeople.com/

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – November 18, 2008 – The Delta Companies will be holding the second annual silent auction at their office on Wednesday, November 19 from 5:00pm to 8:00pm to raise money for the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. 

Auction items will include a jet ride, signed sports memorabilia such as a Tony Romo autographed Cowboys football jersey, custom art and photography packages and various other items and
services offered by The Delta Companies employees and colleagues.

This year The Delta Companies plans to donate $30,000 to the hospital to purchase portable
gaming systems for their inpatient facilities, toys and books for their learning centers. 

Company employees, friends and family also recently raised money through the company’s fall golf tournament held at The Golf Club at Frisco Lakes.  Between $100 and $250 was raised per player who participated.

One hundred percent of the proceeds from these events go to benefit the Texas Scottish Rite
Hospital for Children.

About The Delta Companies
The Delta Companies offer staffing solutions for healthcare, finance and accounting professionals through six companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers, Liquid Medical Recruiting and Atled Finance & Accounting. 

Contact        
Marc Bowles
Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 800
Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060
http://www.tdcpeople.com/

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – November 7, 2008 –The Delta Companies recently launched the first edition of The Healthcare Recruiting Standard, a free quarterly resource that provides a summary of current data and market trends in the recruitment of allied, rehabilitation and mid-level healthcare providers. 

Highlights include interview and placement data containing compensation figures and market demand comparisons by specialty for both permanent and temporary opportunities nationwide.  In addition, the report is summarized by top recruitment executives in the healthcare staffing industry.

The Healthcare Recruiting Standard features data from a rolling twelve-month time frame provided from Delta Healthcare Placement, Liquid Medical Recruiting and Delta Flex Travelers’ national recruiting efforts.

For more information on The Healthcare Recruiting Standard and how to request your free copy, visit www.TDCpeople.com/standard.

About The Delta Companies
The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through five companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers and Liquid Medical Recruiting.

Contact
Marc Bowles
Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175
 Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
mbowles@TDCpeople.com
http://www.TDCpeople.com/

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Sign-On Bonuses Skyrocket in Physician Recruitment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – November 7, 2008  – The Delta Companies recently released the third quarter edition of The Physician Recruiting Standard, a free resource that provides a summary of current data and market trends in physician recruitment. 

The last twelve months show an average increase in sign-on bonuses of forty-seven percent for orthopedic surgery, cardiology, OB/GYN and urology.  “Sign-on bonuses have long been a staple to the recruitment of a quality physician, but with a tumultuous economy and the ever-increasing difficulty in selling a house, physicians and surgeons are looking for more guaranteed money up-front,” says Ryan Anholt, executive vice president of Delta Physician Placement.

The largest of the increases is in OB/GYN with an average of a sixty-six percent increase in the last year.  “Hospitals will need to look for increasingly creative ways to attract top doctors to make a change during this time of economic turmoil,” adds Anholt.

For more information on the Physician Recruiting Standard and how to request your free copy, visit www.TDCpeople.com/standard.

About The Delta Companies

The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through five companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers and Liquid Medical Recruiting.

Contact:          Marc Bowles

        Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies

                        Four Hickory Centre

                        1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175

                        Dallas, TX  75234

                        (800) 521-5060 x4102

                        mbowles@tdcpeople.com

                        http://www.TDCpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – October 31, 2008 –The Delta Companies won three VOICE Awards at Staffing World, the American Staffing Association’s annual convention held last week in San Diego.  Recognition was received in the categories of multimedia, company newsletter and public service.  The Delta Companies in-house advertising team has won a total of 12 awards over the last three years.
American Staffing Association members from around the nation enter their best advertising campaigns, marketing collateral, and publications in the Staffing VOICE Awards competition. The awards celebrate the vision, originality, innovation, creativity, and effectiveness of staffing firms' advertising campaigns and other communications efforts.
For more information on the The Delta Companies, visit www.TDCpeople.com.

About The Delta Companies
The Delta Companies offer staffing solutions for healthcare, finance and accounting professionals through six companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers, Liquid Medical Recruiting and Atled Finance & Accounting. 

Contact      
Marc Bowles
Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175
 Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
mbowles@tdcpeople.com
http://www.tdcpeople.com/

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What is the key to double-, triple-, and quadruple-digit growth? Ask one of the more than 300 staffing firms and staffing industry suppliers on Inc. magazine's 2008 list of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. Several of the ASA members on the list focus on flexibility and training to increase their sales.

"We believe in continuous improvement," says Eric Hardy of w3r Consulting. "We have always run
the business in a very flexible fashion, consistently in support of bigger and better staffing."

Pamela Jung of Workforce Solutions Group says employees have an opportunity to achieve a work–life balance through virtual offices, job sharing, and part-time or flexible hours. Jung says this approach has "tapped into a highly talented group of people who are loyal to our organization and, more important, our clients."

Marc Bowles from the Delta Cos. attributes the company's expansion to "a strong emphasis on internal training. This emphasis has allowed us to transition from permanent placement to a rapidly growing temporary business."

To qualify for the Inc. 5,000, companies must be U.S.-based, privately held, and independent (not subsidiaries of larger companies). The ranking is based on revenue from 2004 (which must be greater than $200,000) through 2007 (which must be greater than $2 million).

To see which staffing firms are on the Inc. 5,000, visit americanstaffing.net.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – October 22, 2008 – Delta Flex Travelers’ Mike Kohrs, vice president, will be speaking this week at the American Staffing Association’s annual Staffing World convention in San Diego. 

Kohrs is part of a three-person panel discussion entitled, “Healthcare Staffing: Let’s Talk.”  Staffing professionals will interact with the expert panel on subjects such as the candidate shortage and
how to better sell staffing services.

Kohrs has a total of 12 years experience in healthcare staffing, including spearheading his third successful start-up, Delta Flex Travelers, with a veteran team of health care staffing professionals
in January 2007.

For more information on Delta Flex Travelers, visit www.FlexTravelers.com

About Delta Flex Travelers
Delta Flex Travelers employs temporary healthcare professionals for The Delta Companies.   The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and healthcare professionals through five companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers and Liquid Medical Recruiting.

Contact         
Marc Bowles
Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 800
Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
mbowles@tdcpeople.com
www.tdcpeople.com

###

Healthcare niche of direct hire is growing, unlike direct hire in general
Growth driven by physician shortage and inelastic demand
Many staffing firms now asking direct hire fees of $25k for primary care physicians
Tony Gregoire

Direct hire for healthcare occupations is a fragmented arena, much like the direct hire sector in general. However, unlike the overall direct hire sector, the healthcare niche of direct hire is growing. In this respect, it is an anomaly—direct hire as a whole is projected to contract in year-over-year (y-o-y) revenue by 16% and 18% for 2008 and 2009, respectively. Of the $11.7B in revenue we project for direct hire in 2008, we estimate $1 billion to $2 billion will be generated by healthcare, the majority from physician placement. 

Pricing
Due to the physician shortage and the exorbitant loss of revenue hospitals can experience from being understaffed by just one physician, direct hire fees for physicians have risen well into the $20-$30k range. Fees for certain positions that are especially difficult to fill can exceed $30k. In our NALTO Benchmarking study, the median conversion fee for locum tenens positions was roughly $21,000 for 2007. We expect that average direct hire fees would be higher.

Some feedback from firms that offer physician placement suggests that direct hire fees for physicians had been stuck in the $18-20k range until a few years ago because most providers were not aggressive enough in their pricing, leaving money on the table. Reportedly, most firms now asking for $25k for primary care physicians, and more for several specialties, are getting it. Some firms began pricing in this range before others.

Given the fragmented nature of the direct hire segment, pricing can vary substantially. Small staffing firms providing placement to a single hospital might have different experiences. Moreover, some firms are pricing their physician placement by methods other than a flat fee. AMN Healthcare (AMN) uses retained search fees as well as variable fees, and is also leveraging its new recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) arm. The Delta Companies generates much more revenue from retained search than from direct hire, and some firms receive an early completion bonus for filling a position within a certain time frame.

Competitive landscape
Although direct hire of healthcare professionals is mostly a fragmented arena made up of hundreds of small firms, some large healthcare staffing firms generate sizeable revenue in this niche, especially in physician placement.

AMN Healthcare (AMN), the nation’s largest provider of locum tenens, (based on 2007 revenue) is also the largest direct hire/retained search provider of physicians. In 2007, the company generated $51.5MM of revenue from its “physician permanent placement services” segment, with y-o-y growth of 2.1%, making up 4% of total company revenue. In comparison, AMN’s locum tenens revenue grew 16% y-o-y to $311MM in 2007, making up 27% of total company revenue. The physician placement segment’s operating income decreased by 1.3% to $12.8MM, making up 14% of total company operating income. The locum tenens business grew 9% to $23MM, making up 25% of total company operating income. In addition to placing physicians through the Merritt Hawkins & Associates (MHA) brand, AMN places some nurses and allied health professionals on non-temporary assignments through its O’Grady Peyton International and Rx Pro Health brands, respectively.

CHG Healthcare, the nation’s second-largest provider of locum tenens, is likely the second-largest direct hire/retained search provider of physicians. In 2007, the company generated $24.1M of revenue from direct hire, most of which is from its CompHealth brand, which engages in direct hire of physicians and allied health professionals. Y-o-y revenue growth in direct hire was 6% compared with 20% growth in locum tenens.

Cross Country Healthcare (CCH) generated about $22MM in 2007 revenue (3% of total company revenue) from its Cejka search business which provides healthcare executive search and physician search services. The acquisition of Medical Doctor Associates in September 2007 will mostly drive locum tenens (locum expected to make up 17% of total company revenue post-acquisition), but might add some physician placement revenue.

The Delta Companies, the seventh-fastest growing private staffing firm in 2007, grew their direct-hire/retained search revenue by 36% to $20.4MM in 2007, though that includes non-physician. The company’s locum tenens segment grew 77% to $18.9MM.

Jackson Healthcare, the nations’s third-largest provider of locum tenens, offers “permanent placement” of physicians through its Jackson & Coker business.

Nursefinders, a healthcare staffing firm that generated roughly $30MM in locum tenens revenue in 2007, offers “permanenet physician placement” through Kendall & Davis, a business owned by the same consortium.

While several companies see a benefit to integrating a physician placement business with a large locum business (specifically, using a locum tenens physician to temporarily hold a position until filled by direct hire), not all companies with a large locum operation take this approach. Management at On Assignment, a firm that generated $75M in 2007 revenue in its physician segment, said in their 1Q07 conference call, “Our issue is not to lose focus. We’re a contract labor shop.” The company generated roughly $12MM in direct hire and conversion fees in 2007, the majority of which was not in healthcare. Of the healthcare portion, $1.9MM was in allied health.

Family practice and internal medicine were the two most requested fields in both a survey from MHA of physician searches in 2006/2007, and a report by The Delta Companies on their 2Q08 activity. Hospitalist, Radiology, and Orthopedic Surgery placed third through fifth, respectively, in the MHA survey. Orthopedic surgery, urology, and cardiology rounded out the top five in the Delta Companies report. The report also noted trailing twelve month (TTM) average days to fill for 2Q08 for family medicine, internal medicine, orthopedic surgery, urology, and cardiology were 101, 111, 158, 110, and 135, respectively.

A report from the Delta Companies on physician recruiting notes that 63% of their candidate sourcing from 2Q08 TTM was through direct mail, 22% through eMarketing, and 7% each from cold calls and referrals. From 2Q07 TTM, eMarketing comprised only 5% of sourcing.

Trends in labor supply
Unemployment rates among physicians and surgeons are among the lowest of any occupational category. Latest reported annual data, for 2007, indicated unemployment in this category to be 0.5%, at about the middle of its historic range versus the period 2000-2007. Current weakness in the overall economy should neither suppress demand for healthcare nor substantially increase unemployment of physicians and surgeons. Therefore, the projected contraction in the general direct hire segment should not apply to physicians.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – October 17, 2008 –Delta Flex Travelers recently joined the National Association of Travel Healthcare Organizations (NATHO), a non-profit association of travel healthcare organizations.

The purpose of the association is to provide a forum for travel healthcare services, including the establishment of ethical guidelines, standards of practice, provide educational programming and educating the healthcare industry on the benefits of travel healthcare staffing.

Delta Flex Travelers also received the Gold Seal of Approval this fall, after completing an on-site review of its compliance with national standards set forth by the Joint Commission. 

Both membership in NATHO and receipt of the Gold Seal of Approval demonstrates Delta Flex Travelers’ dedication to improving and adhering to the high standards set in both the healthcare and staffing industries.

For more information on the Delta Flex Travelers, visit www.FlexTravelers.com.

About Delta Flex Travelers
Delta Flex Travelers employs temporary healthcare professionals for The Delta Companies.   The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and healthcare professionals through five companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers and Liquid Medical Recruiting.

Contact
Marc Bowles
Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175
 Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
mbowles@TDCpeople.com
http://www.TDCpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – September 23, 2008 –Delta Flex Travelers has achieved the Gold Seal of Approval™ for health care staffing services from The Joint Commission.

Delta Flex Travelers underwent an on-site review of its compliance with national standards addressing how staffing firms determine the qualifications and competency of their staff, how they place their staff, and how they monitor staff’s performance.

“Health care organizations that contract with Delta Flex Travelers can look to this certification as an assurance that this organization demonstrates a commitment to providing and continuously improving quality services,” says Michele Sacco, M.S., executive director, Health Care Staffing Services Certification, Joint Commission.

The ongoing shortages of nurses, pharmacists and other health care professionals have forced health care organizations to increasingly fill positions with temporary workers through contractual arrangements with staffing firms.  The Joint Commission’s certification program, launched in October 2004, offers an independent, comprehensive evaluation of a staffing firm's abilities to provide competent staffing services.

“Certification recognizes Delta Flex Traveler’s dedication to providing therapy, pharmacy, allied and mid-level healthcare professionals that are qualified to provide safe, high-quality care to patients,” says DeLibra Wesley, senior verifications coordinator. “We’re proud to receive the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval™.”

Founded in 1951, The Joint Commission seeks to continuously improve the safety and quality of care provided to the public through the provision of health care accreditation and related services that support performance improvement in health care organizations. The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits more than 15,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States, including more than 8,000 hospitals and home care organizations, and more than 6,800 other health care organizations that provide long term care, assisted living, behavioral health care, laboratory and ambulatory care services. The Joint Commission also accredits health plans, integrated delivery networks, and other managed care entities. In addition, the Joint Commission provides certification of disease-specific care programs, primary stroke centers, and health care staffing services. An independent, not-for-profit organization, the Joint Commission is the nation's oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. Learn more about the Joint Commission at www.jointcommission.org.

For more information on the Delta Flex Travelers, visit www.flextravelers.com.

About Delta Flex Travelers
Delta Flex Travelers employs temporary healthcare professionals for The Delta Companies.   The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and healthcare professionals through five companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers and Liquid Medical Recruiting.

Contact
Marc Bowles
Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175
Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060 x4113
mbowles@tdcpeople.com 
http://www.TDCpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – September 18, 2008 –For the second year in a row, The Delta Companies made the Inc. 5000 list of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies, moving up 589 spots to number 1,001. 

The Delta Companies experienced a growth rate of 368 percent from 2004 through 2007, while the median growth rate of companies making this year’s list was 147 percent.

The 2008 Inc. 5000 list measures revenue growth from 2004 through 2007. To qualify, companies must be U.S.-based and privately held, independent – not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies – as of December 31, 2007, and have had at least $200,000 in revenue in 2004, and $2 million in 2007.

For more information on the The Delta Companies, visit www.TDCpeople.com.

About The Delta Companies
The Delta Companies offer staffing solutions for healthcare, finance and accounting professionals through six companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers, Liquid Medical Recruiting and Atled Finance & Accounting.

Contact
Marc Bowles
Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 800
Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
mbowles@tdcpeople.com
http://www.tdcpeople.com/

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – September 8, 2008 –The Delta Companies recently announced the addition of Neal Ostman as Chief Financial Officer.  Ostman has over 25 years experience as a senior-level financial executive. He has considerable expertise within the $12 billion medical staffing industry. Ostman is known for guiding a former employer from $70M in revenues to become the fourth
largest national company in this sector. This is a growth path The Delta Companies is on track to accomplish.

“Neal’s eight-year tenure as the CFO and two more as President/COO at Nursefinders make him ideal for The Delta Companies mission.  Neal’s experience, intelligence and energy, along with a passion for staffing, are a perfect fit,” says Jeff Bowling, chief executive officer. 

Ostman, a licensed CPA, began his career in public accounting before transitioning into industry finance and accounting roles.  In 1990, he moved into the healthcare sector, spending 15 years in nurse staffing and home care.  Ostman has spent the last two years in the financial sector as a consultant on mergers and acquisitions and for private equity firms.

About The Delta Companies
The Delta Companies offer staffing solutions for healthcare, finance and accounting professionals through six companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers, Liquid Medical Recruiting and Atled Finance & Accounting. 

Contact
Marc Bowles, Chief Marketing Officer
The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 800
Dallas, TX  75234
mbowles@tdcpeople.com
www.TDCpeople.com

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – September 4, 2008 –Two members of The Delta Companies leadership team
will be speaking at the upcoming Staffing Industry Analysts Healthcare Staffing Summit in San Francisco, September 8-10. 

Jeff Bowling, chief executive officer, will be part of a four-person, keynote CEO panel discussion entitled, “The Future of Success in Healthcare Staffing.” 

Ryan Tipton, chief talent officer, will be part of a two-person panel discussion entitled, “Employee Retention: Getting Serious About Your Internal Staff.”

Both Bowling and Tipton often speak nationwide on the subjects of staffing, growth and retention.  The Delta Companies is now the third fastest-growing private healthcare staffing firm in the nation (Staffing Industry Analysts 2008), and was most recently recognized by Inc. magazine’slist of America’s Fastest-Growing Companies, or Inc. 5000, with a 368 percent growth rate over the last
four years.

For more information on the The Delta Companies’ Speakers Bureau, visit http://tdcpeople.com/speakers_bureau.html.

About The Delta Companies
The Delta Companies offer staffing solutions for healthcare, finance and accounting professionals through six companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers, Liquid Medical Recruiting and Atled Finance & Accounting.

Contact         
Marc Bowles
Chief Marketing Officer
The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 800
Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
mbowles@tdcpeople.com
www.TDCpeople.com

###

By SHERYL JEAN / The Dallas Morning News sjean@dallasnews.com

Dallas-Fort Worth's large medical community is only getting bigger as hospitals and medical offices expand and add jobs to keep up with the area's fast growth.

Take Baylor Health Care System, which averages about 900 job openings a month at more than 90 facilities across the region, said chief human resources officer Marshal Mills. It hired more than 4,500 employees in the past 12 months and is on track for the same in the next year, he said.

Health-care providers are expanding and offering more outpatient and specialty care to meet the needs of the growing Dallas-Fort Worth population. The nation's fastest-growing metro area is in particular need of nurses, therapists, pharmacists and technicians.

In the past year, 22 hospitals and outpatient centers were built, are under construction or are planned in Dallas, Fort Worth and surrounding counties, according to HealthLeaders-InterStudy.

Texas Health Resources, for example, is hiring 3,500 people a year under a 10-year growth plan that includes a six-story tower being built at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, said administrative director of system human resources Dana Cates.

Health care is considered recession-proof because people always need such services.

Studies show that health care staffing lags two years behind the national economy, said Marc Bowles, chief marketing officer for Dallas-based Delta Companies, which specializes in health-care staffing. Also, aging baby boomers "ensure that health care isn't going anywhere," he said.

Nurses are needed most. Various reports predict the U.S. nursing shortage will reach 500,000 to 800,000 by 2025. Median hourly pay for a registered nurse in Texas is about $30, or $62,109 a year based on a 40-hour work week.

This summer, Niamat Chandani moved from Florida to take a job as a registered nurse at Baylor Heart and Vascular Hospital in Dallas.

"Cardiac nursing is needed everywhere," said Ms. Chandani. Her skills are in such demand that she has been able to find work in her native country of Pakistan, in Uganda and in a few U.S. cities.

Companies also are hiring workers for nonclinical jobs such as billing and technology.

Parkland Health & Hospital System's move this summer to a larger medical records building as well as its move toward electronic records required more technology and clerical workers, said Danny Davila, interim director of workforce planning and recruitment.

In a competitive market, companies take different approaches. Baylor recruits nurses from countries such as the Philippines and Canada. Parkland plans to launch a social networking page on Facebook in October to recruit.

By Patricia Stille Lederman

Top executives from several travel healthcare staffing organizations are forming NATHO, a new, nonprofit association.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, travel healthcare staffing has become a multi-billion dollar industry, with, according to Staffing Industry Analysts, Inc., hundreds of companies and upwards of $5.9 billion in revenue. Now, as then, however, its core objective remains building partnerships—between staffing agencies, nursing and allied health professionals, and contract facilities—so high quality care can be delivered to patients in need.

In response to the industry's recent growth, and predictions for a massive shortfall of healthcare professionals in all disciplines, top executives from several staffing companies have come together to form a new, non-profit association. The National Association of Travel Healthcare Organizations (NATHO)—to be formally launched at the Staffing Industry Analysts, Inc.'s 2008 Healthcare Staffing Summit in San Francisco this month—promises to provide a forum for travel healthcare staffing firms to exchange ideas, address industry issues, promote ethical business practices, and educate NATHO's audience (travel healthcare firms, travel professionals, and healthcare delivery organizations). By "setting the gold standard for conduct" among member agencies, it is hoped these efforts will enhance customer service, offer greater opportunities to partner, and improve the experiences of travelers and client organizations alike.

In the following pages, Healthcare Traveler invites the Advisory Group members to reflect on the short-and long-term goals of NATHO and how the association may assist the healthcare community in meeting current and future challenges.

Please elaborate on how and why NATHO is being founded.

Cynthia Kinnas (CK): Ours is one of the very few industries that did not have its own association. So I think there was just a crying need for it. In the past, company leaders could only connect and communicate at industry functions. We wanted to find a way to keep our discussions going, to have a forum to address issues and to collectively publish some standards, and raise the level of quality in our industry.

At last year's Healthcare Staffing Summit, Don DeCamp, COO of CHG Healthcare Services, brought up his successes with NALTO, the National Association of Locum Tenens Organizations, and Mark Stagen, with Emerald Health Services, took the ball and ran with it. He set up a draft website for NATHO and called myself and some of the other executives and invited us to be part of the Advisory Group Committee.

Stephen Wehn (SW): The industry has transitioned from largely smaller regionally based entrepreneurial providers of seasonal healthcare staffing to a nationally accepted travel staffing delivery service whose suppliers include large publicly traded organizations as well as highly professional private companies. Like most industries our size, we are at a point where we can benefit from an association's voice to represent the collective value we bring to healthcare facilities and healthcare providers across the nation in providing quality patient care. Through an association's voice, we can better educate our policy makers about our industry. I am very pleased that the rubber has finally hit the road and leadership from several different organizations took action to make this association happen.

Jonathan Ward (JW): The industry has changed significantly. A number of companies have entered the market, and new organizations have been formed. Technology is a more prominent element of the business process, and vendor or contract management, whether it be organizations or technologies, are much more prevalent today than they were 5 years ago. Requirements on companies in our industry are certainly more complex today than they were in the past, with standards continuing to improve and increase over time, thanks in part to The Joint Commission's Health Care Staffing Services (HCSS) Certification Program, launched in October 2004. Plus, there have been considerable changes in the professional liability insurance market and in the structure of other benefits. Facility clients and travel healthcare professionals have become increasingly sophisticated. Given the structure of the industry today, the time was right to create a non-profit association to promote practices that ensure our industry maintains a positive reputation amongst both healthcare professionals and the facilities that contract them.

Scott Beck (SB): NATHO's formation is a collaborative effort on the part of the leading firms in the industry to professionalize standard business practices within the healthcare staffing industry. It's driven in part by previous success in the locum tenens physician staffing marketplace and by similar needs in the travel nursing and allied health marketplaces. Our mission is to establish and promote ethical business practices across the board among industry players. We've also embraced a code of ethics to raise the bar by which all these companies operate.

Larry Kraska (LK): While travel companies—large and small—will always view each other as competitors in the marketplace, belonging to an association like NATHO will give us more of a nonthreatening opportunity to share ideas and to talk about best practices within our industry. Ultimately, we want NATHO to become a gold standard where travel companies want to become members and travelers choose to work with companies that are part of the association because they expect a certain level of service and quality.

Mark Stagen (MS): Since there have never been specific guidelines or a body that developed best practices for travel healthcare organizations, NATHO will establish higher expectations that all agencies can strive to achieve. The Advisory Group Committee—which consists of the largest healthcare staffing firms in the country with many decades of experience and thousands of traveling healthcare professionals as partners—has proposed best practices by which to abide. The resulting Standards of Practice & Procedures for professional conduct and Code of Ethics can be found online at www.natho.org/ethics-standards.php [http://www.natho.org/ethics-standards.php].

By adhering to these guidelines, member agencies can avoid disputes and raise the bar for the entire industry. For when traveling healthcare companies provide excellent service, it improves our business and the ways hospitals and travel healthcare professionals view us, which in turn improves our industry's reputation.

What are some of NATHO's standards and how will they benefit travelers, facilities, and members?

MS: Nothing is revolutionary. It is all common sense, and most agencies are likely complying with these guidelines already. For instance, member companies should not submit a traveler candidate to a facility for placement unless representatives have obtained the traveler's permission to do so. And if a traveler has signed up with two companies and they both present the candidate to the same hospital, the agency that receives the actual job offer, regardless of timing of submittals, will represent the traveler.

JW: If a traveler visits the NATHO website, he or she can see the ethics and standards adopted by member companies and know what to expect when working with them. Given the mix of organizations in our industry, this is a good tool for determining where individual agencies stand. In the future, there also will be opportunities for the healthcare professionals to voice any concerns about their experiences with NATHO firms. From the perspective of the traveler, that's really one of the key benefits. "

SB: NATHO members must adhere to Standards of Practice that include performance issues stressing honesty, objectivity, integrity, and competency. Member companies are obligated to conduct business so that their actions reflect positively on the profession and the association. It's really a win-win-win situation for travelers, clients, and healthcare recruiting firms because satisfied people bring an improved perception to the industry.

What are some specific initiatives and goals on NATHO's agenda?

JW: The first goal is to invite all companies in the industry to become members. Having large participation is key, but firms must be willing to abide by the ethical, legal, clinical, and quality service standards. Then we can look to a variety of ways to enhance the benefits for travelers and healthcare organizations.

Our hope is to work with vendors that provide services to our types of companies across the country and possibly negotiate volume or membership discounts with those suppliers. Some of those may be services that can also be passed on to travelers. Another objective will be to provide benchmarking statistics so that there's more data available as to the size of the market and trends in the marketplace, which can only aid in promotion efforts. We also see benefit in working together to advance particular legislative interests, whether it be at the state level or the federal level. Typically, I would say these would revolve around immigration issues.

SB: Collectively, we want to provide a competitive, high-value, high-quality service to all of our travelers. As NATHO gains momentum and the number of members increase, we'll form a community that can go out and talk to clients—to try to develop a better understanding of their views and things that the association can do to further improve the industry, both from their perspective and from that of travelers. We'll be able to share resulting best practices with colleagues without reaching any competitive advantage.

LK: We hope to develop standards in the industry regarding credentialing, tax compliance, and ethical business practices. In addition, the goal is to develop marketing and educational strategies to help NATHO increase hospital and healthcare provider awareness of travel healthcare staffing. We want to advance and continue to improve the perception of the travel healthcare industry, so that we are viewed as partners to our clients and travelers.

MS: Education is one of the key facets of NATHO. We have a very complex industry: We recruit healthcare professionals from all over the country, usually transport them to a different state, put them up in housing, rent them furniture. We have state-to-state issues, federal issues, housing and transportation issues, liability and licensing issues. Our industry has a lot of concerns that other staffing industries just don't have. It is our hope that agencies can benefit from the added communication, shared resources and services, and benchmarking, and gain awareness of legislative and political issues that only affect companies in this segment of the staffing industry.

SW: NATHO plans to launch the National Clinical Advisory Committee, which will bring clinical leaders from different travel healthcare staffing organizations together under the umbrella of the association. This Committee will focus on clinical and quality issues to further support and enhance the effectiveness of travel healthcare professionals in the clinical setting.

CK: Other items that NATHO likely will address include tax advantage plans, housing, HCSS certification, and increased credentialing requirements by clients.

How will NATHO assist travel healthcare organizations in meeting their top challenges?

CK: The top challenge for healthcare travel staffing firms (and clients) is the growing shortage of qualified healthcare personnel, and it is going to remain the Number One issue for several years. Exacerbating this situation is the fact that some professionals have had negative experiences over the past few years, creating a disconnect between those travelers and the staffing industry. Healthcare travel should be an exciting, mutual partnership. If clinicians decide not to become part of the pool that will provide supplemental staffing services to hospitals, the problem is just going to grow exponentially.

What can we do collaboratively to help? I think the major issue is not poor intentions, but rather a lack of knowledge of some of the complex standards and practices, and what goes into running an ethical travel healthcare organization. NATHO's educational efforts can serve to improve the quality of services provided by agencies and, in turn, enhance the overall travel experience.

MS: By increasing the level of quality of all of our firms, and our industry, we'll be able to attract more travel professionals because there will be fewer companies that are misinformed about proper procedures. We want travel healthcare professionals to have great experiences and to tell their friends about it.

SW: The industry's greatest challenge continues to be—and will always be—the supply of qualified healthcare professionals available and willing to travel. The supply constraints prevent us as an industry from meeting the staffing needs of client facilities, which has a direct impact on the quality of care they are able to provide our communities. I believe one of the most important responsibilities of NATHO will be to further educate healthcare professionals on the great opportunities that we offer as an industry for those wanting to travel far or near, expand their skills in various clinical settings, create flexibility and better balance between their career and home life, and increase their satisfaction as professional caregivers.

JW: Getting more nurses or allied healthcare professionals interested in the travel staffing profession is difficult for each individual agency to do. We typically market our companies to attract people who are ready, interested, and in the marketplace looking. NATHO could actually play a collective role in getting more people interested in the traveling as a career or way of enhancing their clinical skills.

How will NATHO assist client facilities in meeting their top challenges?

LK: Prior to joining Club Staffing, my background was in hospital administration, and on many occasions, I used temporary healthcare staffing agencies. I found when I needed temporary clinical staff, the challenge was not only getting clinicians in quickly, but also knowing that I could count on the company to provide high quality staff. Our goal is to establish a reputation where healthcare clients view NATHO members as agencies that consistently provide quality staff and maintain high ethical standards.

SB: Educating clients on how to manage peak staffing levels during high census periods is an issue on which NATHO will be focused. Having the flexibility to handle different staffing levels through contingent staffing can benefit long-term permanent personnel as well as become an economic benefit to organizations.

What are some future industry trends that may impact NATHO's long-term goals?

LK: I believe that the travel staffing industry will continue to grow and there will be an increase in the number of companies providing these services. Therefore, it is important to have an association that focuses on setting standards and tracking industry trends, while educating clients and travelers, so there is some consistency across companies.

SW: Right now, in travel nursing especially, we predominantly staff the nation's acute care hospitals. As healthcare services and access to care become more diverse, there will be more opportunities for travelers to work in various non-acute care healthcare settings. More travel assignment opportunities in outpatient and specialty clinics, mini-clinics in retail stores, remote and home healthcare opportunities. Our client base will become much more diversified than it is today.

JW: With the concern regarding the nursing shortage, and current immigration laws, immigration legislation will be an important topic for discussion. Also, I think that greater standardization of interfaces between third party vendor management systems and technologies utilized by staffing companies will help to improve efficiencies for clients and agencies alike.

CK: There's obviously a lot of focus on healthcare politically, as the presidential election approaches. Polls report that it's the top domestic issue, along with the economy. While all the candidates propose some type of universal health insurance program, not one of them has explained how the system is going to provide services if the 48 million Americans who are uninsured suddenly have improved access to care.

Travel healthcare professionals and staffing agencies are going to play an even larger role than they do now in patient care delivery. And we owe it to our key stakeholders—the travelers, clients, and patients— to continually improve the level of service that our industry offers them. We want travelers and healthcare facilities to be able to focus on their core competency—delivering outstanding patient care.

MS: For the future, NATHO has three target audiences: The travel healthcare firms (for membership), the travelers (to increase awareness of our seal of approval and resources available), and the hospitals and vendor management solutions providers. It is our hope that clients will think of us like they view certification by The Joint Commission, and that everyone will realize that NATHO stands for a high level of quality service.

SB: The value of a competitive, collaborative association like this is really phenomenal in regard to professionalizing the industry. Through education and communication, it can elevate the perception and value of healthcare staffing in the marketplace, both today and in the future. I think NATHO can have the same impact in the allied and nursing arenas as NALTO has had in the locum tenens industry. By encouraging collaboration between member agencies and adherence to standard business practices, NATHO will be able to address any future changes or trends in the healthcare staffing industry.

NATHO Advisory Group Members

SCOTT BECK, group president at CHG Healthcare Services, oversees several operating divisions providing physician and allied health staffing services. Mr. Beck has held numerous leadership positions in both sales and marketing since joining CHG in 1999, including president of the company's largest sales division, CompHealth Locum Tenens.

CYNTHIA KINNAS co-founded Clinical One (now part of the Vedior group of companies) in July 1993 and currently serves as president of its Travel Division where she oversees all revenue and operating activities. Having begun her career as a healthcare

LARRY KRASKA is responsible for the travel operations for Nursefinders, which comprises Club Staffing, Nursefinders Travel, National Healthcare Staffing, and Resources on Call. Mr. Kraska joined Club Staffing as CEO in November 2001 and has over 20 years of diversified healthcare management experience in healthcare staffing, hospital administration, physician practice management, recruiting, operations, and outpatient services.

MARK STAGEN is the founder and CEO of Emerald Health Services, established in 2002. He was awarded the Ernst & Young's 2007 Entrepreneur Of The Year^® award in the Greater Los Angeles region and was selected as one of 30 national finalists from approximately 300 regional winners. Emerald was recently recognized by Staffing Industry Analysts, Inc., as the sixth fastest growing staffing firm in the nation.

JONATHAN W. WARD, president of Cross Country Staffing, joined the company in 1993 and has held numerous executive positions including executive vice president of operations for Cross Country Staffing and chief marketing/strategy officer for Cross Country Healthcare, Inc., the corporate parent. Before joining the firm, Mr. Ward spent 3 years at W.R. Grace & Co. as assistant to the chairman and CEO.

STEPHEN M. WEHN joined AMN Healthcare in 1993 and has been senior vice president of corporate and community development since December 2004. Prior to that, he served as senior vice president of client sales and services, vice president of client services, and as national director of client services. Before joining the company, Mr. Wehn worked in various management capacities for Manpower, Inc.

WHAT IS NATHO?

Education

Ethics and Standards

Standards of Practice & Procedures z Code of Ethics z Maintain peer review process based on excellence, honesty, and fairness z Offer members formal dispute resolution through arbitration.

NATHO MEMBERSHIP FACTS

Must be Joint Commission-certified or in process of gaining HCSS certification z For travel healthcare companies with proof of insurance coverage z Initial annual fee is $500 per organization, with revenue tier structure in future z Associate member category planned for vendors and suppliers z Annual membership meeting tentatively planned to coincide with Healthcare Staffing Summit z Fifty applications from travel healthcare firms in first month

© 2008 Advanstar Communications Inc.. Permission granted for up to 5 copies. All rights reserved. You may forward this article or get additional permissions by typing http://license.icopyright.net/3.7453?icx_id=546123 into any web browser. Advanstar Communications Inc. and Healthcare Traveler logos are registered trademarks of Advanstar Communications Inc.. The iCopyright logo is a registered trademark of iCopyright, Inc.

By Will Ho

In a perfect world, once you decide to become a physical therapist (PT) traveler, you'd call your agency of choice, pick a location, and begin an assignment. But this is reality, and before you can start a contract, the issue of licensing must be addressed.
Depending on the specific state board, the process may take anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 months. And if you're uninformed, it can be frustrating, time-consuming, and expensive. Here, a traveling PT who ran into some unexpected scenarios when applying for licensure in several states shares practical information and personal insights.

Getting started
In 2006, Woodley Thomas, MPT, received a degree in physical therapy from The Medical University of South Carolina. She decided, upon graduation, to become a healthcare traveler. At the time, her assignment states of choice were South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. Being proactive, Woodley decided to apply for licenses in all three.

As she soon discovered, each state has its own set of requirements. South Carolina, for instance, required a background check, and for a Georgia license, Woodley had to sit for a law exam for which she had to pay. Then, after she obtained her first license, she learned that she needed to provide verification of each to every state board from which she desired a license. "Had I known the requirements from the beginning," says Woodley, "there would have been no surprises."

The application process
To obtain a new state license, you first must locate and complete the appropriate application. Most forms can be downloaded from boards' respective websites and printed for completion. But some state boards, such as Nevada's, require phone call or e-mail application requests. There are also a few states, like Texas, with boards that have interactive sites allowing for online submissions. The latter is obviously the easiest and most effective way in which to apply for a license. At present, however, it is far from widely available.

After you have completed an application, you must send it to the relative board along with the required fee, which may range from $50 to $300. Woodley, for example, paid over $500 in fees to obtain licensure in three states. "Forking over that much money right out of college can be a challenge," she says. "So, it's vital that new grads interested in healthcare travel be aware of the costs."

While typically non-refundable, an application fee is ordinarily a one-time expense. Payment options are usually apersonal check or money order. Checks must clear before forms can be processed, though, which can add a day or two to the turnaround time. Conversely, money orders are like cash in hand and can be processed more quickly. Of course, if you complete an application online, you should be able to pay the fee with a credit card. Bear in mind that the faster a form and payment is received, the sooner you can expect to receive license approval. You may even wish to send your application via an overnight shipping service, if time is of the essence.

License verifications
If required, it may take up to 3 weeks—or longer—to receive a verification letter, depending on the individual state board. Be prepared to pay a small fee for this requirement, as well. If you hold one or more state licenses, it is imperative to immediately request the verifications you need. Once your documentation is received, the process generally takes 3 to 5 days. Still, to be prepared for unforeseen circumstances, you should allow for extra time. And remember, like our PT traveler, you may incur additional expenses—such as those related to background checks or examinations a given board requires—which is why it's essential to confirm requirements from the onset of the application process.

In Woodley's case, it took 4 weeks for her Alabama license to be issued and 3 weeks for the South Carolina and Georgia boards to send their verification letters, plus 5 days for the licensure to be issued. Most recently, she acquired a Texas license and admits that the process seemed 100 times easier this time around. Although she has yet to utilize her Georgia license, she continues to happily accept contracts in the South.

Valuable tips
To help future PT travelers with the licensure process, Woodley offers a number of useful pointers. "Sign with a staffing agency that assists with state licensure, and be diligent with the application process and verifications, which will probably take longer than you think," she advises. "You should never assume you have completed everything until a license has been issued."

Woodley also says that while some travel companies offer licensure reimbursement, others do not, so it's important to be prepared to pay for the fees. "Research your opportunities, and ask a lot of questions," she explains. "Like those 'G.I. Joe' public service announcements stressed, 'Knowing is half the battle!'"

Fast facts

* Each state has its own, unique set of licensure requirements.
* Depending on the state, the licensure process may take anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 months, so you should allow ample time for turnaround.
* Most forms can be downloaded from boards' respective websites and printed for completion.
* Some boards even have interactive sites that allow for online submission, while others require phone or e-mail application requests.
* An application fee is ordinarily a one-time expense, but fees vary by state and can range from $50 to $300.

 © 2008 Advanstar Communications Inc.. Permission granted for up to 5 copies. All rights reserved. You may forward this article or get additional permissions by typing http://license.icopyright.net/3.7453?icx_id=546129 into any web browser. Advanstar Communications Inc. and Healthcare Traveler logos are registered trademarks of Advanstar Communications Inc.. The iCopyright logo is a registered trademark of iCopyright, Inc.

By SHERYL JEAN / The Dallas Morning News sjean@dallasnews.com

Andrea Castillo of Dallas spent a recent morning looking at job postings at the WorkforceSolutions Greater Dallas office along Interstate 35.

"I just started looking last week," said Ms. Castillo, who wants to re-enter the workforce after quitting her last job nine months ago to take care of her terminally ill mother. She hopes her medical billing experience helps her land a job in the booming health-care field.

She was one of the 159,558 Dallas-Fort Worth residents counted as unemployed in July.

Many people are turning to staffing agencies for help finding work in a crowded market where companies can be picky.

It's taking longer to land a job than it did a year ago, said Ryan Kurtz, area director for Ajilon Professional Staffing in Addison. Job postings there and at its sister firm, Adecco, doubled from April to June compared with the previous three months, he said.

Employers also are seeking help to find skilled workers, such as finance and project managers. Dallas-based Delta Companies' recruiting fees have risen 28 percent in the past two years after being flat for a decade, said chief marketing officer Marc Bowles.

Lately, companies are hiring more temporary workers, particularly in customer service, manufacturing and warehouse, as companies face economic uncertainty.

Companies tend to hire temps to control costs – salary, benefits, training and retention – if they're nervous about the economy, said John Reed, senior vice president for Robert Half International in Dallas.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – September 1, 2008 –The Delta Companies recently donated twenty-five thousand dollars to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of North Texas.  The wishes of four children with life-threatening medical conditions were granted, including one child whose wish was to see the United States Women’s Olympic Softball Team compete in Beijing and one child who will appear in an upcoming episode of the television game show “Deal or No Deal.”

Company employees, friends and family volunteered time and money at three events where 100 percent of the proceeds went to granting the wishes of the four children.  The events included: a
silent auction, a carnival in conjunction with Albertsons grocery, and a company golf tournament.

About The Delta Companies
The Delta Companies offer staffing solutions for healthcare, finance and accounting professionals through six companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers, Liquid Medical Recruiting and Atled Finance & Accounting.

Contact        
Marc Bowles
Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175
Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
mbowles@tdcpeople.com
www.TDCpeople.com

###

By Haley K. Jestice

08.25.08

“Pack your bags and get ready to meet new people,” Suzanne Willis, PT, encourages therapists considering a career as a traveler. And, she adds: “on your days off from work, grab a map and start exploring different parts of the world.” Although Willis’ straightforward tone sounds similar to the sales pitch of a travel agency, she’s not a travel guide for physical therapists. In fact, life hasn’t always allowed Willis the option to pick up and leave. From 1985 to 2006, Willis cared for her mother and worked at the same hospital in Lovell, Wyo. But, change was in the cards for Willis’ future.

“During the years that I was taking care of my mother, I really had no choice but to remain stationary. But, when she passed away in 2007, I figured, ‘well, maybe it’s time for a change’.” And, when circumstances in Willis’ life did change, she discovered this was a golden opportunity for her to do something different: travel. “I picked the right agency for me, at a time when I needed something new in my life – and I discovered that I really liked being a traveling therapist,” says Willis.

Today, Willis considers herself a “joy guide” for therapy professionals who are making the transition to a traveling position. Pleased with the direction her career has recently taken, she advises others in her profession to take advantage of the opportunities available for therapists, just as she has chosen to do. She says everyone with an itch to travel should follow their bliss, and do what satisfies them.

“I have worked with Delta Flex Travelers for more than a year now,” says Willis. Thanks to Delta Flex, she has been able to work in many different areas and facilities in Wyo., referring to these as some of the most refreshing years in her professional career. Hopefully, she says, the remaining years of her career will be just as rewarding.

Willis first connected with recruiters at Dallas-based Delta Flex Travelers back in 2006. And, ever since she first heard about the traveling opportunities being offered to physical therapists, she’s been intrigued by the idea of seeing how other facilities operate. In addition, she says, “If I were younger, I would definitely go through the effort of obtaining licensure in many different states – and then, I would really do some traveling.”

“The opportunity to travel and work has allowed me to see how the healthcare business is done in different areas,” Willis adds. “The experience has been eye-opening, and it has been a welcomed change in my professional career.” She says the advantages of being a traveling therapist will vary according to the individual’s needs and expectations. However, she personally cites two major benefits: 1) an increase in pay and 2) a decrease in stress. She says, “It’s great – all the details are taken care of by the recruiter.”

The Right Fit
“The profession for traveling therapists is wide open, says Rodd Kiliany, MPT, OTR, CHT, a traveling therapist based in the Pacific Northwest. “Therapists can self-direct their career path in regards to the position and location that they desire.” His travels began early in his career. After he graduated from Pittsburgh University, he took his first job within the Blue Ridge Mountains – in beautiful Blacksburg, Va. After two years in Virginia, he relocated to the beach community of South Carolina and then to Florida, where he says, “I enjoyed the climate, and many days in the sand.”

He soon realized that he loved change, and the adventures that traveling therapy brings. “The need to explore what may be around the next corner is what I enjoy the most,” he says. Although he has traveled all over the United States, he is currently experiencing the assignment of a lifetime – Anacortes, Wash. – thanks to the expertise of travel recruiters at Delta Flex.

With the assistance of his recruiter, Kiliany was able to find a desirable position in an ideal location. He says, “Becoming a traveling therapist just seemed to be the right fit for me – from the beginning.” His advice to novice traveling therapists who don’t know where to start: “Pull out a map, start pointing, and then do some research online. After you do this, call a recruiter and say you are ready to start traveling.”

Recruiters can help to guide the process and offer background information on job details, location, and what to expect. There are many travel agency Web sites available online for health professionals to peruse. For instance, in Boca Raton, Fla., the American Traveler staffing agency provides thousands of registered nurses, allied health specialists, and therapists with permanent and temporary job placements nationwide, including California, Florida, Hawaii, and the Midwestern and Mountain States.

The company is also recognized by The Joint Commission and has received its Gold Seal of Approval™ for the Healthcare Staffing Services program. Representatives are available 24/7 to ensure that professionals obtain the ultimate traveling experience. On their Web site, www.AmericanTraveler.com, the company cites additional benefits of working as a traveling therapist, including: gaining exposure to new treatments and therapies, working with top practitioners in different areas (i.e. metropolitan and rural), having a flexible work schedule, and exploring new and exciting places.

However, there are plenty of additional sources that are available online, such as: Cross Country TravCorps, www.crosscountryallied.com; Physical Therapy Jobs, www.physical-therapy-jobs.net, and Complete Medical Staffing ,www.completemedicalstaffing.com.

The Job of the Recruiter
Kiliany’s recruiter, William Ho, senior recruiting consultant for Delta Flex Travelers, says “As recruiters, we look to ensure that both parties’ – the therapist’s and a facility’s – needs are met in an assignment.” He says that the two key roles in the application and hiring process of traveling therapists include: 1) the recruiters, and 2) the marketers. “The recruiter’s role is solely candidate-centric.”

During an assignment, it is the recruiter’s responsibility to check-in with the candidate. The marketers have the same responsibility as being the “go-to” person, except they are the contact for the facility’s side. He adds that if any problematic issues or situations arise while that candidate is on assignment, then the recruiter should be the first to know about it. “Basically, the recruiter is the point person for the candidates, at all times.”

Assignments for travelers are typically 13 weeks long. Most facilities will offer the travel therapist an extension of the contract toward the end of the assignment. It is up to the candidate whether or not they extend. “The perfect travel candidate is someone who has a motivation to travel for the pure adventure and experience. The traveler should also have the following characteristics: likeable, adaptable, willing to learn new settings, and open-minded about new places,” says Ho.

When it comes to where job placements are needed the most, he says, it varies – due to a number of factors. “Typically, there are desirable locations across the board,” says Ho, “and this can change seasonally.” For instance, everyone wants to be in the South during winter and coastal for the summers. But, the ideal traveler is someone who will go anywhere – at anytime, he says.

Another resource that provides information of what to expect and where the traveling industry is heading in the future is the Staffing Industry Analysts Inc. (SIAI) and Bureau of Labor and Statistics. They annually publish statistics that show the status of the industry, such as the number of firms assisting professionals, the growth of the industry, forecast of future demand, revenue, where travelers are most needed, and more.

In 2007, SIAI estimates that there are 1050 temporary staffing firms currently locating job placement options for healthcare workers. And of these firms, there are 500 offering service to licensed practical nurses, 100 firms catering to physical therapists, and 9,500 for all other occupations. Since May 2006, when the report was issued, the total number of healthcare occupations employed both traditionally and temporarily was greater than 50,000. For example, the breakdown of nurses, physical and respiratory therapists within the healthcare industry are as follows: Nurses total 2,417,150; Physical therapists total 156,100; Respiratory therapists total 99,330.

Also, SIAI says the top geographic targets for therapists are in Florida and Texas. However, for nurses, there will be a shortage (through 2015) in the states of Wyoming, Alaska, Idaho, New Mexico, and Connecticut, which indicates opportunities for employments.

Adventures Await!
Following a typical four-day/10-hour scheduled workweek, Kiliany says his life is nothing but ordinary: “My life is spent exploring the Northern Cascade Mountains, jumping a ferry boat to the San Juan Islands, jumping into Vancouver, Canada or Seattle, and generally having a three-day vacation while earning a good living with less worries.”

Healthcare professionals interested in this route of profession should do their research prior to enlisting. Kiliany suggests calling multiple recruiters and asking as many questions as necessary, then choose a recruiter that fits your personality. “The better relationship will allow a improved understanding of your goals and desires.”

He also says to consider your own personality since this tye of job is not for the individual unaccustomed to change. Rather, to be a travele has to be flexible and able to adapt to a changing environment. “Since a traveling therapist needs to be able to walk into the job and start – from day one – being productive for the facility, I believe that new grads would not be ideal for this job – just yet.”

A good candidate for a traveling therapist, Kiliany says, is a person who has experience in the field already and is likes change. Also, someone who is open to meeting new people. He adds, “This type of person must also be flexible in the job required of them, personable to allow for good connections, carefree at times helps, [and] confident in their ability. I think those are some of the traits that help in making this a good fit.”

In regard to his current assignment, Kiliany says, “I have met so many people that have said you are so lucky to be able to do this, and I can honestly thank my career for allowing me this chance.” Although he loves the area, he says, “I know the assignment will be coming to an end soon, and a new travel will begin. I’m now thinking of Arizona, Utah, California, or perhaps, Montana, Oregon or Wyoming. Being a traveling therapist is a great way to discover America, which still has so much beauty that is often overlooked for international destinations.”

–– Haley K. Jestice is a staff writer for Therapy Times. Questions and comments can be directed to hjestice@therapytimes.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – August 21, 2008  –The Delta Companies recently released the second quarter edition of The Physician Recruiting Standard, a free resource that provides a summary of current data and market trends in physician recruitment. 

The latest edition’s market trends section contains insight on how the physician shortage is being felt throughout larger populated areas. 

Typically, healthcare facilities engage search firms for their hardest-to-find specialties in the hardest-to-fill locations.  Current trends show otherwise with an increase in primary care searches in cities over 50,000 in population.

Another notable trend includes the rise in e-Marketing to find candidates.  Internet job boards, email campaigns, and online social networks are just some of the methods that have increased the source of candidates by over three percent in the e-Marketing medium.

For more information on the Physician Recruiting Standard and how to request your free copy, visit www.TDCpeople.com/standard.

About The Delta Companies
The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through five companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers and Liquid Medical Recruiting.

Contact        
Marc Bowles
Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 800
Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
mbowles@tdcpeople.com
http://www.TDCpeople.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – August 5, 2008  

The Delta Companies’ Marc Bowles, chief marketing officer, will speak today in a one-hour webinar for Net Promoter entitled “Net Promoter Certification: An Insider’s View of Best Practice.”

Bowles, who leads Delta’s customer experience program known as the Delta Experience Index, or DEi, will be part of a three-person panel including speakers from Symantec and Shell.  As recent certification participants, the panel will share their thoughts on the key concepts that can increase
the effectiveness of the Net Promoter program, known as the discipline by which companies profitably grow through focusing on their customers.

The Delta Companies currently boasts a Net Promoter Score that is 38 percent above the industry average (American Staffing Association).

For more information on The Delta Companies’ Speakers Bureau visit http://tdcpeople.com/speakers_bureau.html

About The Delta Companies
The Delta Companies offer staffing solutions for healthcare, finance and accounting professionals through six companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers, Liquid Medical Recruiting and Atled Finance & Accounting.

Contact         
Mike Gianas
Advertising Manager, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 800
Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060 x4113
mgianas@tdcpeople.com 
http://www.TDCpeople.com

###

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – July 18, 2008 – The Delta Companies continue to move up the list of the nation’s fastest-growing private staffing companies for the fourth year in a row, according to Staffing Industry Analysts’ 2008 rankings.  The Delta Companies is now the seventh fastest-growing private staffing firm and third among private healthcare companies.  In 2007, the company had revenue of $40.8 million and compounded annual growth rate of 92 percent.

Up from the 2007 ranking of tenth overall, The Delta Companies has consistently exceeded their previous year’s position, moving up from seventeenth in 2006 and twenty-first in 2005.  The firm’s extreme focus on its people and enhancing the customer experience are two of the primary reasons the company has maintained such growth. 

Known as “The 25% Club,” the annual list ranks private staffing companies with a compounded annual growth rate of more than twenty-five percent over a four year period.

For more information on The Delta Companies, visit www.TDCpeople.com.

About The Delta Companies
The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through five companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers and Liquid Medical Recruiting.

Contact         
Marc Bowles
Chief Marketing Officer
The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 800
Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
mbowles@tdcpeople.com
www.TDCpeople.com

###

By Dan Harvey
Radiology Today
Vol. 9 No. 14 P. 36

If you assess today’s market for radiologists, specifically as it relates to physician recruitment, you may find it easy to draw a parallel with the current global peak oil situation: In both sectors, diminishing supply can’t keep up with increasing demand. You don’t need to be a world-class economist to determine what’s amiss with the world’s energy resources, but what circumstances have created the imbalance in the medical arena?

One is that procedural needs have outdistanced the number of available radiologists. “Essentially, radiologic procedures are growing three times faster than the radiologist pool,” says Mark Euckert, a managing partner with the Colonial Health Group, a physician recruiting and staffing firm headquartered in Fort Worth, Tex. “With the way things have been trending, I’m not sure how it’s possible to catch up.”

Observers attribute the imbalance to the aging population and the diminishing number of radiologists emerging from residencies. “Today’s market is comprised of about 34,000 radiologists, and many of them are 55 years and older,” says Jim Fuller, director of recruiting for Dallas-based Delta Physician Placement, adding that the numbers not only include general radiologists but radiation oncologists, physicists, nuclear medicine professionals, and interventional radiologists. “Right now, there are more physicians retiring than coming out of residencies and fellowships.”

Christopher Swab, director of physician and administrator recruitment for Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based American Medical Recruiters, concurs: “That decrease is one of the biggest developments we’ve witnessed in our business in recent years.”

“From last year’s residents, only 888 are entering the professional ranks this year, so the supply has dwindled,” adds Sam Karam, vice president of Merritt Hawkins & Associates, a national permanent placement physician recruiting firm based near Dallas.

The fact that more opportunities exist than physicians makes radiology an excellent career choice. Starting and average salaries are as attractive as the offered incentives, which are all quite significant. Moreover, radiologists often can stamp their own ticket. “With the current supply-and-demand situation, they can be as selective as they want, which continues to drive up the costs for radiologists,” says Fuller.

But that only leads back to the fundamental question: With all of the apparent advantages, why should the field suffer shortages at all? The aforementioned issues aside, no one appears to have a definitive answer. “You’d think that more and more people would be rushing to enter the field,” comments Euckert.

Not only is the field financially rewarding, it’s also technologically exciting and professionally gratifying. “Imaging is the fastest growing area within the healthcare field, and technology is only going to advance, so it provides many interesting opportunities,” says Euckert. “So it’s hard to explain why more people aren’t jumping on this bandwagon.”

Nevertheless, the shortage exists, and it’s expected to last for at least several more years. “That puts radiologists in the driver’s seat,” says Swab.

Sometimes location is the most decisive factor, overriding even salary. Deciding where to live involves personal ties related to geography, schooling, or, most importantly, family. “Some candidates feel that strong pull towards home,” Swab says. “Often this pull increases as they begin to get a bit older. Obviously, their parents and grandparents are getting older, too, and they want to get back to a place where they can be close to them.”

Spousal input looms large in location-based decisions. Physician spouses often make huge sacrifices and for a long time. Typically, they follow their partners through an early career path determined by medical school acceptances, available residencies, and fellowships, despite the fact that it takes them far from their families.

After training, the relationship often reaches a point of fair reciprocation. “In our experience, we’ve found that when radiologists complete their education and residencies or fellowships, they realize it’s time to accommodate the spouse and choose a position that is close to home,” says Euckert.

Geographic Considerations
But other geographic considerations come into play, such as regional climates. “Older radiologists looking to change jobs often seek the warmer areas such as the Southwest or Florida,” says Swab.

Cost-of-living considerations may attract other job seekers to even more specific locations. For them, a state such as Kansas may be more appealing than California because it costs considerably less to live there. “Pick just about any state in the Midwest, and you can buy a larger house that sits on a larger parcel of land at a significantly lower price,” says Swab. “Further, goods are less expensive, which is especially relevant today with the rising food and gas prices.”

Conversely, some radiologists may simply prefer to work in a metropolitan area close to a major city. Indeed, popular job locations include New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco. “But such preferences have contributed to the uneven distribution of physicians by geography,” says Fuller.

Competition for jobs in such locations is so strong that local employers are insulated from the kinds of shortage problems in other parts of the country. At the same time, this compels employers in more remote regions to design a more attractive employment package to attract high-quality radiologists. This, in turn, drives up market prices. A West Coast employer at one time could attract a radiologist for $200,000, but Midwestern employers were compelled to respond with higher starting salaries and more attractive benefit packages.

In the current market, the average salary has risen to $450,000, a figure that places radiologists in the same financial echelon as cardiologists, neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons, and urologists. “We’ve seen a huge trend in groups increasing their salary proposals, especially the initial compensation, which has increased dramatically,” says Swab. “Five years ago, some of the groups we’ve been working with offered a $300,000 starting salary. Today, they’re offering $400,000. Now, some Midwestern groups that offered starting salaries in the high $300s are now having to offer starting salaries in the $450,000 to $500,000 range.”

But radiologists aren’t just looking at salary. They’re assessing the entire package, including benefits and vacation time. “Radiologists work hard, so they like to play hard,” says Euckert. “Thus, they consider an equitable vacation arrangement to include eight to 12 weeks on average. But that’s only a practice-based range. Teleradiologists who work intense shifts—for instance, 7 am to 7 pm—want 26 weeks of vacation time.”

“It’s a quality-of-life issue,” says Swab, “and that’s becoming as important as location, compensation, and work quality.”

The Right Setting
As far as work quality and environment, radiologists are increasingly attracted to settings equipped with state-of-the-art technology. “Take PACS, for instance,” says Euckert. “Several years ago, it was still rather novel, but it’s now becoming the norm. If a facility hasn’t transitioned to PACS, many job candidates will decide to look elsewhere.”

Further, many new residents and fellows are coming out of medical schools where they worked with the latest and greatest technology. Therefore, they may opt for employment within a group or health system that utilizes comparable equipment, according to Euckert.

Such technology considerations can make it hard for some facilities located in remote areas to compete. Because they can’t afford the best technology, they may not be able to attract the best radiologists. “That’s something that rural facilities have been forced to deal with,” says Fuller.

Radiologists are also attracted to positions at places that offer greatly reduced partnership tracks. Several years ago, partnership tracks lasted about four years. Today, partnerships are offered after only a year and sometimes even less. “Tracks have been reduced dramatically, as groups are trying to make their job offers as attractive as possible,” says Swab.

Also, candidates are becoming more specific about employment structure. “That is, some radiologists seek single-specialty groups, which can provide more autonomy and greater income potential, not only from what they can generate from professional billing, but what they can generate from ancillary income, which comes from the imaging equipment they own,” Fuller explains.

Radiologic Hot Spots      
When it comes to specialties—or, more specifically, subspecialties—some radiologic areas are “hotter” than others. As radiology divides into specialization areas (eg, interventional radiology, musculoskeletal, neuroradiology, cardiac imaging), some specialists are more in demand than others. “Cardiac imaging is a new ‘hot’ area and so is women’s imaging,” says Swab.

Other high-demand areas include pediatric and musculoskeletal imaging. “Subspecialization represents a market shift that has significantly impacted demand, making requests much more focused and specific,” says Karam. “For instance, neurointerventional radiologists can pretty much choose the location and practice, and employers will do whatever is necessary to gain their services.”

At the same time, Swab sees other areas cooling off, often because of “turf” issues. “For the past several years, interventional radiologists have become embroiled in turf battles with areas such as cardiology and vascular surgery,” he explains. “The quantity and caliber of work they’ve done at hospitals has been reduced because of the competing specialties. So interventional radiologists are looking to move to smaller facilities where they don’t face as much competition from other specialties.”

Innovative Solution         
As previously suggested, the many complexities involved with today’s imaging marketplace make it hard for some facilities and health systems to compete for top-grade radiologists. This calls for flexibility when assessing options, and one increasingly attractive solution is teleradiology, especially for practices located in the hinterlands.

“For smaller community hospitals in rural settings, teleradiology provides an enormous benefit,” says Karam. “It allows facilities to cover service lines without having to overcompensate a full-time radiologist. Only a few years ago, they didn’t have that option.”

Further, the option is garnering greater interest from both radiologists and recruiting firms, and it should ultimately contribute to the available radiologist pool. “For radiologists, it’s a very appealing career path, and it should attract many more people in the future, as it contributes to their quality of life,” says Fuller. “Because radiology is such a technology-reliant specialty and because it’s becoming more digitized, radiologists are literally able to work anywhere they want if they have the right equipment.”

“More and more, physicians are looking at this as a way to supplement their income or to move into it full time,” says Euckert. “We’ve been receiving an increasing number of inquiries from radiologists looking for that kind of recruitment piece. They’ve been working in hospitals for many years. They’ve grown tired of the long hours. They’re ready for a change. Now, recruiters are fielding more questions about the teleradiology direction.”

— Dan Harvey is a freelance writer based in Wilmington, Del., and a frequent contributor to Radiology Today.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – November 7, 2008 –The Delta Companies recently launched the first edition of The Healthcare Recruiting Standard, a free quarterly resource that provides a summary of current data and market trends in the recruitment of allied, rehabilitation and mid-level healthcare providers. 

Highlights include interview and placement data containing compensation figures and market demand comparisons by specialty for both permanent and temporary opportunities nationwide.  In addition, the report is summarized by top recruitment executives in the healthcare staffing industry.

The Healthcare Recruiting Standard features data from a rolling twelve-month time frame provided from Delta Healthcare Placement, Liquid Medical Recruiting and Delta Flex Travelers’ national recruiting efforts.

For more information on The Healthcare Recruiting Standard and how to request your free copy, visit www.TDCpeople.com/standard.

About The Delta Companies
The Delta Companies offer permanent and temporary staffing solutions nationwide for physicians and allied healthcare professionals through five companies:  Delta Physician Placement, Delta Healthcare Placement, Delta Locum Tenens, Delta Flex Travelers and Liquid Medical Recruiting.

Contact      
Marc Bowles
Chief Marketing Officer, The Delta Companies
Four Hickory Centre
1755 Wittington Place, Suite 175
 Dallas, TX  75234
(800) 521-5060 x4102
mbowles@TDCpeople.com
http://www.tdcpeople.com

Real estate slump can affect hospitalist shortage

You’ve heard it before. The real estate market is in the midst of a colossal nosedive. The values of homes are plummeting. If you’re a hospitalist program director, though, the bad news doesn’t end there.

Research from Delta Physician Placement, a national healthcare staffing agency in Dallas, suggests the current decline in the real estate market might be affecting hospitalist programs, namely efforts to recruit and hire physicians from out of town.

Scott Hurst, the director of consulting at Delta, says he first heard about the possible connection between the real estate market and recruitment struggles when casually speaking with a hospital colleague in 2007. After surveying many of Delta’s 25 physician recruiters, Hurst found that every one of the surveyed recruiters cited the real estate market as a determining factor for physicianswhen deciding upon a position out of state.

“I learned that it was clearly an issue with physicians looking to relocate,” Hurst says. “This was especially true where the market is more heavily affected in places like Phoenix and California.”

Aaron Gottesman, MD, FACP, CHCQM, the director of hospitalist services at Staten Island (NY) University Hospital, says he hasn’t heard recruits mention this concern yet, but says it may affect their decisions.

“There is probably extreme geographic divergence,” he says about different recruiting rates around the country. “The real estate market] may also impact academic centers and teaching hospitals less so, as these programs more easily recruit from within their own residency program.”

Even so, hospitals should be aware of how the market is faring in the areas they recruit and be prepared to address their candidates’ real estate concerns at all times.

The house-hospitalist correlation

The real estate slump is a recruitment and financial challenge for some hospitalist programs. If a sizable percentage of candidates decline a hospitalist position strictly because they cannot sell their homes to relocate, the small pool of hospitalist candidates becomes that much smaller.

Many programs are already struggling to recruit, hire, and retain physicians from their respective communities, and the struggle of the real estate market only serves as another speed bump to the growth of the program.

This challenge can also be a financial drain on the overall hospitalist program. After weathering the expenses associated with the interview process, candidates may decline a job offer in the final hour of negotiations. Then the hiring process must start from scratch, and the program takes a financial hit.

Sometimes a candidate does accept an offer but ultimately cannot take the position because of an unsellable home. The candidate may even fail to show up on his or her start date for the same reason.

“In addition to the extreme candidate shortages and intense competition that are common in most specialties, clinics and hospitals now have to worry about whether physicians they sign to employment contracts will ultimately arrive,” Hurst says.

Nix the bonus and pay for the mortgage

Hurst described a recent situation in which Delta placed an Oregon physician in a program in Appleton, WI. The physician wanted the job and accepted the offer, but then backed out.

“She was deathly afraid of not being able to sell her house,” he says. “There were 12 houses on her street, and six had been for sale.”

The hospital decided not to give up so easily. In lieu of a signing bonus, the hospital offered to pay the physician’s mortgage on her house for nine months, with the intent that the physician could sell the house during that window of time.

The candidate ultimately accepted the position. But it wasn’t the easiest move to pull off. Hospitals routinely give physicians large signing bonuses with the intent that the physicians will stay on for long-term positions. Rewriting recruitment policies with consideration to the real estate market might take some creativity to navigate around red tape, but it’s a change
that could help your organization survive the hospitalist shortage.

“The client understood what it took to be successful,” Hurst says. “You have to be flexible and understand the challenges facing your physicians. For big earners in expensive homes, the ability to sell a house is certainly one of them.”

Hospitals should make the extra effort

For hospitals, the most challenging aspect of negotiating is that it requires them to become more creative with their offers, rather than falling back on traditional signing bonuses on a sliding scale.

“If you are already planning on paying a $40,000 signing bonus, what is the difference between that and agreeing to pay that physician $4,000 a month for 10 months? It’s the same general principle as paying a stipend to someone in the last year of [his or her] training,” Hurst explains.

Hospitals should go the extra mile, but Hurst says they are reluctant to engage in any significant recruitment effort.

“They’re not excited about spending $50,000 on a signing bonus, but the market dictates that,” he says. “They must move quickly and do what’s necessary to be successful, because if they don’t, someone else will.”

Hurst says hospitals should change the way they negotiate to leave wiggle room for extenuating circumstances, such as the struggling real estate market, and then create a policy that reflects that strategy.

“The signing bonus continues to be a popular way to close the deal, and this is just an application to how you structure the signing bonus better,” says Hurst.

The finances favor creativity, and paying a candidate’s mortgage is one creative strategy that can result in more hired hospitalists.

Gottesman says, “I suspect that creative solutions are imperative, but a signing bonus alone would either have o offset the potential mortgage payments for an agreed-upon period, as well as take into account the potential for further home value deflation and prolonged distant-homeowners’ anxiety.”

Gottesman adds that the bulked-up signing bonus and the mortgage considerations could be just the start of these new solutions.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DALLAS, TEXAS – June 12, 2008