Now more than ever, burnout amongst healthcare providers is on the rise. Last year, in a study, The Physician’s Foundation found that nearly 80 percent of physicians are “sometimes, often or always” feeling burned out. Turnover in healthcare is also at an all-time high. Statistics show the healthcare space in the U.S. has the second-highest turnover rate at 20.6 percent, which is right behind the hospitality industry. Among some of the reasons cited for the high staffing turnover and burnout in healthcare are job-hopping of younger generations; work/life balance causing individuals to leave; pressure on healthcare system profitability limiting wage growth; and inflexibility of schedules to name a few. These factors are part of what is leading to the projected 2.3 million healthcare worker shortage that the U.S. could be facing by 2025.
Seeing a need for a solution, Boon was created. Boon is a proprietary marketplace app that connects licensed healthcare professionals to contract work opportunities on-demand. With the click of a button, a healthcare practice can hire a temporary worker knowing that they have been thoroughly screened, licenses are validated and background checks are conducted. Matches are created via a sophisticated algorithm that connects providers to practices based on factors such as technology utilization, past experience and personality traits.
“Healthcare providers entered their profession to care for others. They have invested time and money into earning their degrees to provide quality patient care,” Ryan Vet, the founder of Boon explains. “However, due to the rising demands and pressures in healthcare as well as the changes in the working environment of the United States as a whole, many providers are hanging up their white coats. Our goal is to change that.”
What is Boon?
Boon brings temporary healthcare staffing into the gig-economy. The gig-economy has most notably accelerated in spaces like ride-hailing as well as food and package delivery. Due to the complexities of an on-demand, vetted healthcare workforce, few companies have innovated in the temporary healthcare staffing space. Nearly seven to 10 percent of healthcare work is contracted out to temporary employees every day in the United States.
With provider burnout on the rise, flexibility in work while maintaining fair pay is more important than ever. Practices are up against higher turnover than before and are faced with a heavily burdened overhead when it comes to bringing in new temporary team members. In an effort to solve both the problems that providers and practices face, Boon has created a marketplace for licensed healthcare providers to work on their own schedule and for practices to hire providers with the click of a button via their web or mobile app. The simplicity of Boon’s platform helps to promote fair pay to providers, reduced overhead for hiring practices and unlock unprecedented flexibility for both practices and providers. With many traditional temporary staffing agencies, there are hidden fees, high multiples on hourly labor or subscriptions costs. Boon provides clear and transparent pricing for practices and competitive pay for providers at the time of the placement. This eliminates the need for lengthy negotiations between parties and a fast match.
Why Boon is Different Than Many Other Gig-Economy Platforms
Studies on compensation of those working in the gig-economy find that many workers are not able to make living wages. Boon is focused on promoting fair pay for providers while also lowering the cost to a hiring practice by utilizing technology to make the placement process more efficient. Additionally, Boon offers providers with several incentives, including opportunities for complementary continuing education credits, travel gift cards to take a much-needed vacation and even paid time off for volunteering, to name just a few.
Temporary Healthcare Staffing with Patient Care on the Forefront
Boon aims to encourage high-quality patient care through provider and practice accountability. All licensed professionals go through a thorough, third-party, background check in addition to license/credential verification. To continually attract and maintain high-quality providers, Boon has an in-depth rating system that is designed to ensure that the individuals on the platform continually strive to be the best providers they can be. This is in line with Boon’s motto of “practicing good.”
Access to the Boon Platform
Boon has officially launched its platform and it is available for immediate sign-ups of both practices and providers. Initially, Boon will be focused on the dental industry. In early 2020, Boon will move into both the veterinary and medical spaces. Boon will open individual cities and markets in the United States based on the demand in a given area. There is no cost to the practice or the provider to sign up. The only cost is incurred when a practice hires a provider.
