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Finding the right senior engineering talent is challenging in the healthcare world; with specialized knowledge requirements spanning both technical expertise and healthcare domain knowledge, the demand for experienced health-tech professionals can outpace the supply.
Healthcare organizations often find themselves in a difficult position: they have immediate technical needs but are several weeks or months away from securing the right permanent hire. This is where bringing on freelance technical talent as an interim solution can provide tremendous strategic value.
Maintaining Momentum on Critical Projects
The search for a senior-level engineer with healthcare experience can require an intensive process: multiple rounds of interviews, skills evaluation, and assessing culture fit. During the recruitment period, critical initiatives may stall, and competitive edge may wane.
Whether implementing telehealth solutions, optimizing critical data, or enhancing interoperability between systems, a skilled freelance technologist can keep important initiatives moving forward. This ensures that product enhancements don’t fall behind while you search for permanent talent.
Addressing Security Requirements
Healthcare organizations face constant security challenges with access to sensitive data. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), “sensitive data are collected by healthcare organizations from their customers and stored on network servers to make them accessible all the time, and to facilitate patient care, but unfortunately, every blessing has a curse, which also applies here. The use of smartphones and other smart devices has also become a key source of privacy breaches.” Senior freelance specialists with extensive cybersecurity experience can address immediate security vulnerabilities while your permanent hiring process continues. Additionally, senior freelancers may also possess knowledge about HIPAA compliant practices and can ensure you’re always maintaining proper patient data security.
Gaining Valuable Cross-System Experience
Healthcare freelancers often bring experience from multiple outside organizations. This broad perspective can be invaluable when tackling challenges or optimizing workflows across disparate systems. These insights can help identify inefficiencies in your current processes or suggest alternative approaches proven successful in other environments.
Test-Driving Potential Leadership Approaches
Working with a freelance senior health-tech professional provides an opportunity to experiment with different technical leadership styles before committing to a permanent hire. This experience can help refine the role description and identify which leadership qualities will work best within your healthcare organization’s unique culture and clinical workflows.
The Strategic Advantage
The specialized expertise, outside experience, and flexibility provided by senior freelancers can strengthen the technical foundation of healthcare companies and organizations and set a permanent hire up for success. By considering interim, senior talent, healthcare organizations can be productive with their time while searching for permanent engineering talent, and continue to advance important initiatives and improve their technical standing.