Start Hiring for Diversity

Photo by Andrew Harnik

Recruiting for the Best Candidates

There have been a lot of praises and eyebrow raises for President Biden stating that he wants to nominate a black woman for the Supreme Court corporate America should be mimicking his diversity.

When you examine President Biden’s selection of positions, he has done a terrific job at diversifying the staff in his administration. Organizations should look to copy the same attributes when finding a range of people to work within their companies.

At times, we hire people we are comfortable with. It’s not malicious, it can be and America’s inhuman history of colonization, slavery , segregation and racism, we cannot ignore the past. In order to shape the future with the best people, executive leadership must move outside the comfort zone, and that is not always easy. We tend to pick people who are like us, come from the same background, or share some of the same qualities. It does make it easier, but you don’t always get the best people.

A diversity hire is not just defined by race; diversity hiring goes beyond race it is religion, age, sex identification, geography, schooling, and physical abilities all make people unique, and these qualities allow for a more diversified employee workforce and a richer company culture.

Now is the time to change our hiring practices and start to look at individuals who can make our business better. With hybrid and remote work environments, we can relieve social pressures and focus on the work and how well the person performs in their role.

The more we allow ourselves to get away from the norm and our comfort zones, the truly better we become equipped at hiring the best person for the job.

By,

Dane Flanigan CEO

ultraHealth Agency

Homecare Will Change Moving Forward

Home health has been here long before what we now know as modern medicine. Even before there were organized hospitals, medicine people of the town / village were making house calls for the sick and delivering babies. Let us define the 21st century vocabulary of home health: Home health is or maybe was defined as “Care in a wide range of health care services that can be given in your home.”  Medicare.Gov. The home healthcare provider is a practitioner who checks on a person’s welfare daily, weekly or a few times a month with a myriad of services that range from medication, physical therapy to helping with daily functions like bathing. These services have changed the way we think of healthcare in the modern age. The discussion on changing healthcare always starts with affordability and ends with access. Let us talk about how that access has changed via technology which may play a key role in increasing affordability.

Now that we are in the pandemic period of COVID-19, new information on using technology and revitalizing home services is key.  Just like food delivery services have been around for generations, the pandemic has forced us to rely on these services more. Thus, more delivery services are faster and easier. What was once viewed as a  convenience became a transport of necessity that changed personal habits, public perception, and an increase in investment in new technology.

In addition, the pandemic has fostered awareness of telehealth services since in March and April of 2020, most hospitals decided to limit the entry of non-emergency patients to stop the spread of the virus and conserve resources.  People who needed to check in with their practitioners had to think of other ways to communicate face to face. As corporations hopped on screen calls, schools had kids logging onto the web for class, telehealth became the access point for medical professionals for a one-one dialogue. In addition, care facilities started to increase the technical aptitude both for the infrastructure and the staff.

 At the University of Wisconsin Health, Dr. Pete Newcomer, Chief Medical Officer,  states that telehealth was “minimal” before the pandemic but now  he sees it at 30% of patient visits. Madison.com   The demand for people to converse has not changed, but the method of communication has transformed how it is viewed and distributed to the market.  With the Biden Administration’s new plans for a $400 billion investment into “home – or community-based care”, there is going to be more discussion about access, communication and how technology will be at the forefront. Let’s start a new definition – one defined by people, structured in communication and lives in health.

By Dane Flanigan

CEO ultraHealth Agency