What Should Hospitals Look for in a Healthcare Staffing Agency?
- CredTALENT
- 1 hour ago
- 7 min read
What Should Hospitals Look for in a Healthcare Staffing Agency?
Hospitals should evaluate a healthcare staffing agency based on healthcare recruiting expertise, candidate quality, credentialing processes, compliance, responsiveness, workforce scalability, communication, performance, and transparent pricing.
A strong healthcare staffing agency should do more than provide resumes. It should understand the healthcare workforce, the requirements of clinical positions, and the hospital's specific staffing needs.
This is increasingly important as healthcare employment continues to grow in the United States.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), healthcare and social assistance is projected to be the fastest-growing major industry sector from 2024 to 2034, with employment projected to increase by 8.4%, adding approximately 2 million jobs.
Government source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Employment Projections 2024–2034
For hospitals, this means workforce planning and healthcare recruitment are becoming increasingly important strategic priorities.
Why Do Hospitals Use Healthcare Staffing Agencies?
Hospitals may partner with healthcare staffing agencies when they need additional recruiting capacity, qualified candidates, temporary staffing, or assistance with difficult-to-fill positions.
Common reasons include:
Nurse vacancies
Physician recruitment
Allied healthcare staffing
Temporary workforce requirements
Travel healthcare staffing
Per diem staffing
Hard-to-fill clinical positions
Seasonal workforce demand
Employee turnover
New hospital services or facility expansion
Support for internal talent acquisition teams
Federal workforce data supports the continuing demand for healthcare professionals.
The BLS projects strong employment growth across healthcare occupations between 2024 and 2034. For example, registered nurse employment is projected to increase by 5%, representing approximately 166,100 additional jobs. BLS also projects about 189,100 registered-nurse openings per year, on average, over the decade.
Government source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Registered Nurses
This workforce environment makes access to qualified healthcare professionals an important consideration when hospitals evaluate staffing partners.
10 Things Hospitals Should Look for in a Healthcare Staffing Agency
1. Healthcare-Specific Recruiting Experience
The first question hospitals should ask is:
Does this staffing agency understand healthcare recruitment?
Healthcare recruitment is different from general recruiting.
Healthcare recruiters need to understand clinical roles, specialties, education, professional licensing, certifications, experience requirements, and healthcare work environments.
A healthcare staffing agency may recruit:
Registered nurses
Physicians
Nurse practitioners
Physician assistants
Respiratory therapists
Surgical technologists
Laboratory professionals
Medical assistants
Allied health professionals
Healthcare administrative professionals
Hospitals should ask potential staffing partners:
Which healthcare positions do you recruit?
Which specialties do you support?
How long have you worked in healthcare recruitment?
Do you recruit nationally?
Can you support difficult-to-fill positions?
The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook provides federal employment and occupational information for healthcare professions, making it a useful reference when evaluating healthcare workforce demand.
Government source: BLS Healthcare Occupations
2. Strong Candidate Screening and Qualification
Recruiting speed matters, but candidate quality should come first.
Hospitals should understand how an agency evaluates candidates before presenting them.
Depending on the role, a staffing agency's process may involve reviewing:
Education
Professional experience
Licensure
Certifications
Employment history
References
Specialty experience
Background information
Position-specific requirements
Ask the staffing agency:
“What screening and verification steps are completed before a candidate is submitted to our hospital?”
This question helps hospitals understand whether the agency simply forwards applicants or operates a structured healthcare recruitment process.
Hospitals should also establish their own credentialing, onboarding, and verification requirements for applicable positions.
3. Credentialing and Compliance Knowledge
Credentialing is a critical part of healthcare workforce management.
Depending on the position and organization, hospitals may need to verify:
Professional licenses
Certifications
Education
Employment history
References
Background screening
Clinical experience
Specialty qualifications
Facility-specific requirements
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) provides extensive federal health workforce data, including information about healthcare occupations, workforce supply and demand, and shortage areas.
Government source: HRSA Bureau of Health Workforce
Hospitals should ask staffing agencies to clearly define:
What the agency verifies
What documentation it collects
What the hospital must independently verify
How missing documents are handled
How credentialing status is tracked
Clear responsibility reduces delays and improves transparency.
4. Ability to Recruit Hard-to-Fill Healthcare Positions
Some healthcare positions are significantly more difficult to recruit than others.
Challenges can be particularly important in rural communities, underserved areas, and locations with limited provider availability.
HRSA maintains federal Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) data identifying geographic areas and population groups with shortages of primary care, dental, and mental health providers. HRSA's current data indicates that approximately 20% of the U.S. population resides in primary medical care HPSAs.
Government source: HRSA Health Workforce Shortage Areas Dashboard
This is why hospitals should ask a staffing agency:
“How do you recruit for hard-to-fill healthcare positions and shortage areas?”
Look for evidence of:
Targeted candidate sourcing
Specialty recruiting
Passive candidate outreach
Geographic recruiting
Healthcare-specific networks
Candidate relationship management
Recruitment analytics
A strong agency should be able to explain its strategy rather than simply promising more candidates.
5. Speed Without Sacrificing Candidate Quality
Hospitals frequently need staffing support quickly.
However, speed should not come at the expense of candidate quality or appropriate verification.
Hospitals should evaluate:
Speed + quality + credentialing + communication + retention.
Ask staffing agencies for measurable performance information such as:
Time to submit
Time to fill
Fill rate
Candidate acceptance rate
Credentialing turnaround
Assignment completion
Retention
Replacement rate
A staffing agency should be able to explain how it measures recruitment performance.
6. Clear Communication and Dedicated Support
Healthcare recruitment can involve multiple stakeholders:
Human resources
Talent acquisition
Nursing leadership
Department managers
Credentialing teams
Compliance
Procurement
Finance
Poor communication can delay hiring.
Hospitals should ask:
Will we have a dedicated account manager?
Who handles urgent staffing requests?
How frequently will we receive updates?
How are candidate statuses communicated?
Who handles escalations?
How quickly does the agency respond?
A reliable communication structure helps hospital teams maintain visibility throughout the recruitment process.
7. Understanding of Hospital Workforce Needs
Every hospital has different workforce requirements.
A rural hospital may have very different needs from an academic medical center.
A staffing agency should understand:
Hospital size
Location
Clinical departments
Specialties
Shift requirements
Patient population
Current vacancies
Hiring volume
Seasonal demand
Long-term workforce objectives
HRSA's Bureau of Health Workforce provides workforce data and projections by occupation and, where available, state and rurality.
Government source: HRSA Workforce Projections Data
This type of federal data can help hospitals understand broader workforce conditions while making staffing decisions based on their own organizational needs.
8. Scalable Healthcare Staffing Solutions
Hospital staffing requirements can change quickly.
A healthcare organization may need additional professionals because of:
Increased patient demand
Employee turnover
New service lines
Facility expansion
Seasonal demand
Leave coverage
Unexpected vacancies
A staffing agency should have the recruiting capacity to respond as workforce requirements change.
Ask:
“Can your recruiting team scale if our staffing requirements increase?”
For health systems with multiple facilities, also ask whether the agency can support recruitment across multiple locations and specialties.
9. Transparent Pricing and Contract Terms
Cost matters, but hospitals should not evaluate staffing agencies solely by price.
Review:
Staffing fees
Contract length
Conversion fees
Replacement policies
Cancellation policies
Overtime terms
Travel-related expenses where applicable
Administrative fees
Payment terms
Hospitals should evaluate total value, not simply the lowest quoted staffing rate.
An agency that provides better candidate quality, faster communication, and stronger recruitment support may deliver greater value even if its initial fee is not the lowest.
10. Proven Performance and Client References
Hospitals should ask staffing agencies for measurable performance information.
Important metrics can include:
Metric | Why It Matters |
Time to fill | Measures recruiting efficiency |
Time to submit | Measures responsiveness |
Fill rate | Shows ability to meet staffing requests |
Candidate acceptance rate | Indicates candidate alignment |
Retention | Provides insight into workforce stability |
Credentialing turnaround | Measures process efficiency |
Assignment completion | Indicates reliability |
Client satisfaction | Measures service experience |
Hospitals should also request references from healthcare organizations with comparable workforce requirements.
Government Data Shows Why Healthcare Workforce Planning Matters
Federal data provides important context for hospital staffing decisions.
The BLS projects healthcare and social assistance employment to increase 8.4% from 2024 to 2034, adding approximately 1.98 million jobs.
BLS also projects registered nurse employment to increase by approximately 166,100 positions over the same period.
Meanwhile, HRSA maintains federal data identifying communities experiencing healthcare provider shortages. Its shortage-area dashboard was updated in July 2026 and provides current HPSA information.
Together, these sources demonstrate why hospitals need thoughtful workforce planning and why recruiting strategies may need to differ by occupation, geography, and healthcare setting.
Healthcare Staffing Agency Evaluation Checklist
Before selecting a staffing agency, hospitals can use this checklist.
Healthcare Recruiting
Healthcare-specific recruiting experience
Relevant clinical specialties
Hard-to-fill recruitment capability
Candidate sourcing strategy
Candidate Quality
Structured screening
Qualification verification
Relevant experience
Reference process
Credentialing
License verification process
Certification verification
Background screening
Clear division of responsibilities
Communication
Dedicated account manager
Regular candidate updates
Clear escalation process
Responsive communication
Performance
Time-to-fill metrics
Fill-rate metrics
Retention information
Client references
Contract
Transparent pricing
Clear contract terms
Replacement policy
Conversion terms.
Frequently Asked Questions About Healthcare Staffing Agencies
What should hospitals look for in a healthcare staffing agency?
Hospitals should evaluate healthcare recruiting experience, candidate quality, screening, credentialing, compliance, communication, recruitment speed, scalability, performance metrics, client references, and pricing transparency.
How do hospitals choose a healthcare staffing agency?
Hospitals should compare healthcare staffing agencies based on their clinical recruiting expertise, candidate sourcing, screening process, credentialing workflow, performance metrics, references, communication, scalability, and contract terms.
Why do hospitals use healthcare staffing agencies?
Hospitals may use staffing agencies to supplement internal recruitment, access qualified healthcare professionals, fill difficult positions, support temporary workforce needs, and respond to changing staffing demand.
What questions should hospitals ask a staffing agency?
Hospitals should ask about candidate sourcing, screening, credentialing, time to fill, fill rate, retention, communication, references, pricing, replacement policies, and experience with difficult-to-fill healthcare positions.
How important is credentialing in healthcare staffing?
Credentialing is an important consideration because hospitals need appropriate documentation and verification for healthcare professionals working in applicable roles. Requirements vary according to the position, organization, and applicable laws and regulations.
How can hospitals evaluate staffing agency performance?
Hospitals can review time to fill, time to submit, fill rate, candidate acceptance rate, credentialing turnaround, retention, assignment completion, and client satisfaction.
Should hospitals choose the cheapest staffing agency?
Not necessarily. Hospitals should evaluate total value, including candidate quality, recruiting performance, communication, credentialing support, retention, and contract terms.
Can staffing agencies help hospitals in healthcare shortage areas?
Healthcare staffing agencies may support recruitment in difficult markets, but hospitals should evaluate whether an agency has demonstrated experience recruiting for the specific occupation and geographic area. HRSA's HPSA data can provide additional context about federally designated healthcare shortage areas.
How CredTALENT Supports Healthcare Recruitment
Hospitals need healthcare recruitment partners that understand the complexity of the U.S. healthcare workforce.
CredTALENT provides healthcare recruitment and workforce solutions designed to help healthcare organizations address their staffing requirements.
When evaluating a staffing partner, hospital leaders should consider:
Healthcare recruiting expertise
Candidate sourcing
Screening processes
Credentialing support
Communication
Recruitment timelines
Workforce scalability
Long-term hiring objectives
Ready to discuss your hospital's staffing requirements?
Conclusion
Selecting a healthcare staffing agency is a strategic decision.
Hospitals should look beyond the number of resumes an agency can provide and evaluate the complete recruitment process—from candidate sourcing and screening to credentialing, communication, placement, and ongoing workforce support.
Federal data shows that the U.S. healthcare workforce will continue to experience significant demand. BLS projects healthcare and social assistance to add approximately 2 million jobs from 2024 to 2034, while HRSA continues to identify healthcare provider shortage areas across the country.
For hospitals, the right staffing partner should provide more than short-term recruitment assistance.
It should provide a reliable, transparent, healthcare-focused workforce solution that can adapt to changing clinical staffing needs.
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