Addressing Recruitment Challenges in Digital Health

Digital health is changing the face of health care, and it requires a workforce prepared to navigate and innovate new technology.

May 6, 2025 | | Written by Dwight Brown, Vice President, Compensation Consulting

Health care has been moving into the digital age for some time. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009, part of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA), introduced Meaningful Use measures that pushed health care organizations to adopt electronic health records (EHRs). The age of paper medical records was over.

Then COVID hit, speeding up all kinds of health care processes. Today, most health care processes, including EHRs and patient engagement platforms, are digital. These are positive changes, but they have created challenges. One of the biggest problems is the need for skilled people to manage and use the new technology. But attracting and keeping these workers is difficult. Health care is competing with tech companies, financial firms, and other industries for the same talent. Hiring the right people is not a luxury; it is necessary to providing high quality patient care.

Recruitment Challenges:
The growth of technology in health care has created a demand for candidates with special skills. But the supply has not kept up. This gap is made worse by the appeal of high-paying roles in tech and finance. These jobs often lure top talent away from health care. This has impacted smaller rural organizations with thin budgets and few growth opportunities. The battle for talent is leaving health care organizations – especially small rural ones – in the digital dust.

Key Considerations for Health Care Recruiters:
So, what can health care organizations do to stand out in a tight market? Here are a few things to consider:

Market awareness
Deep knowledge of the competitive landscape is crucial. This requires extensive study of the current market. Looking at company goals, objectives, and current and future resource and skill gaps against the market will help develop targeted recruitment and retention initiatives. Benchmarking against target markets and adjusting pay and benefits to be competitive can help raise company status to be an employer of choice.
Job appeal
One of the most neglected elements in HR is having clear, current job descriptions. Skills needed for health care change quickly. If job descriptions and postings are outdated, recruiters will always be one step behind. They will fail to make jobs attractive to candidates who thrive on challenge and career growth. This not only applies to tech implementation and maintenance candidates. It also applies to the up-and-coming younger tech-savvy generation, who bring much-needed skills to almost every job in an organization.
Diversity and inclusion
Increasing the candidate pool through diversity and inclusion leads to faster, more effective growth. When organizations hire from a wide range of backgrounds, it brings in new ideas and fresh perspectives. This is especially important in digital health, where innovation is key to growth.

How to Attract Digital Health Talent:

Revise job descriptions
Updating job descriptions to reflect current work and show forward thinking, can be a game-changer in attracting candidates.
Build partnerships
Building relationships with schools, tech boot camps, and professional groups provides access to high-quality candidates, hungry to use their skills and talents. Partnerships also offer the chance to shape curricula to better align with industry needs. This ensures a steady stream of talent.
Ensure competitive compensation
Market surveys and deep understanding of current and future hiring challenges are the backbone of competitive compensation. Knowing what candidates look for helps in crafting novel benefits, which may help offset pay when budgets are tight. The pay and benefits mix of the past has shifted. Younger candidates value much more than just pay and the usual ho-hum benefits.
Focus on employer branding
What makes your company special? Share success stories! Focus on career development, employee innovation, and company growth. This can attract candidates eager to be part of a forward-thinking company. Showcasing the company’s role as a leader in digital health can inspire top talent to join or stay, even if they could earn more elsewhere.

Conclusion:
Digital health is changing the face of health care. It requires a workforce prepared to navigate and innovate new technology. Organizations that take a thoughtful approach to understanding current and future needs, and tailoring recruitment and retention to those needs, will be able to compete for top talent. From updating job descriptions, to developing strategic partnerships, to ensuring unique and competitive compensation, organizations doing these things will stand out as employers of choice.

This article is sponsored by Salary.com.