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Therapy Staffing Garners Attention at Summit

Brought to you by Staffing Industry Analysts, Inc.

Craig Johnson

October 2007

Event

Discussion tables on physical and occupational therapy staffing drew maximum capacity audiences at the Staffing Industry Healthcare Summit held last month in Chicago, while a panel on allied healthcare staffing – which also included a discussion of therapy temporary employment – was standing-room only.

Background and Analysis

Interest appears to be growing rapidly in therapy staffing. A key driver for this demand is the aging population; a growing number of older Americans are in need of physical therapy and rehabilitation services.

Allied/other staffing as a whole, which includes all healthcare workers outside of locum tenens and per diem or travel nursing, was a $2.9 billion industry in 2006, according to the Healthcare Staffing Growth Assessment report by Staffing Industry Analysts (released Sept. 20, 2007). Allied healthcare staffing is expected to grow 10.6% in 2007 and 11.0% in 2008.

Within the allied/other staffing segment, physical therapists and therapist assistants combined comprise about a $200 million temporary staffing market; occupational therapists make up another $100 million in temporary staffing sales.

These occupations are hot right now because of an extreme skills shortage in these professions. The unemployment rate is just 0.2% for occupational therapists and 0.7% for physical therapists. Hospitals report these occupations to be a top recruiting pain point. Among healthcare occupations recruited, hospital administrators report therapists (including all therapist specialties) to have both the highest vacancy rates and the highest increase in difficulty recruiting.

Lisa Spector, founder, president and CEO of Staffing Plus Inc., said during a Healthcare Staffing Summit panel on allied staffing that occupational therapists were No. 1 as far as demand in the mid-Atlantic region, while physical therapists were No. 2. "There's a lot of need for these specialists," Spector said.

The demand for therapists is contributing to the rapid growth in allied/other temporary staffing. Richard Jackson, CEO of Jackson Healthcare Solutions, said during the Summit that allied healthcare staffing is now where locum tenens staffing was in 1985 or 1990.

Allied has "just begun, I think it's going to be huge," Jackson said.

The difficulty hospitals have filling a position, however, can be an advantage to staffing firms' margins. "Where there's mayhem there's margin," said Club Staffing CEO Larry Kraska, another allied healthcare panelist.

All three panelists on the allied healthcare staffing panel at the summit – Spector, Kraska, and Luis Balaguer, president of RPH on the Go USA – agreed word of mouth, or referrals, is the top recruiting method.

They also agreed that one of the biggest keys to success in allied healthcare is relationships. "No matter what's happening, no matter what tools clients are using to control costs, the key is in the relationships," said Balaguer, whose company does pharmacy staffing.

Staffing Industry Analysts' perspective

While the staffing industry as a whole is seeing a degree of slowdown at the moment, allied/other healthcare is one of the few areas experiencing not only strong, but accelerating growth. The therapy staffing market is one of the hotter areas within allied/other. Staffing Industry Analysts recommends the allied/other segment as favorable entry point for those considering healthcare staffing. Staffing firms able to recruit hard-to-find physical and occupational therapists, in particular, will find a ready market for their services.

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