In the past few years, HR technology has had to develop at a rapid pace to keep up with <an increasingly digital and dynamic workforce.
Recently, healthcare HR leaders have faced new demands for seamless task automation and better user experiences. As healthcare moves towards digital transformation, staffing software is becoming even more centralized. Mainstay recruiting technologies like applicant tracking systems (ATS) and human resource information systems (HRIS) have evolved into end-to-end solutions. Read on to understand the intricacies of ATS and HRIS platforms.
What Is the Difference Between ATS, HRIS, and Credential Checking Software?
Applicant tracking systems and human resource management systems support HR departments at different stages of the employee lifecycle.
An ATS tracks, sorts, and organizes data within applications to pre-qualify and isolate ideal candidates. It may also help organizations manage other parts of the hiring process. Many ATS solutions manage recruitment marketing, job posting, interview scheduling, and job offers.
An HRIS essentially picks up where an ATS leaves off: at the moment of hire. This system focuses exclusively on employee management and operations. It can handle everything from documentation to payroll, benefits, and reporting. An HRIS may also be known as a human resources management system (HRMS).
Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
An applicant tracking system is any software that helps employers handle recruitment needs. Relying on a standalone ATS (in other words, an ATS that is not connected to other HR platforms) has advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages
An ATS is extremely useful for anyone navigating modern hiring. Practically any ATS will aggregate all of your candidates’ information so you can easily filter and sort applicants by qualifications, location, or stage in the hiring process. A standalone ATS may be the right choice for employers who already use and prefer specific HR platforms that don’t integrate with each other.
Disadvantages
Using an ATS that doesn’t integrate with your other platforms can be challenging and time-consuming. If your ATS can’t send information directly to your other management software, your team will have to spend time switching between platforms and entering all that information manually. Finally, it may take additional training to learn multiple platforms. Navigating two (or more) different types of software can cause errors and may create confusion among the staff.
Human Resource Management System (HRIS)
An HRIS is any software that combines hiring, management, and onboarding functionalities in order to provide a holistic human resource platform.
Advantages
An HRIS integrates multiple functions, meaning that you can manage and hire without leaving a single platform. This means that you can save time by ensuring you never have to enter the same information twice. You also have access to integrated analytics, and can check both your hiring statistics and your management and onboarding statistics (like how long it takes for a hired employee to have their first day) all from the same place.
Disadvantages
Let’s say you love the applicant tracking arm of your HRIS software, but aren’t enamored with the onboarding or management functions. With an HRIS, it’s all bundled together, so you can’t necessarily pick and choose. However, with the right software, you don’t have to compromise. Picking the best platform for you can be as simple as asking the right questions during a software demo.
Credential Checking Software
In healthcare, credential checking software ensures that your new hires’ licenses and credentials are up-to-date and verified.
Advantages
Having separate credential checking software can make sense if your preferred ATS/HRIS doesn’t have credential checking software. Although it’s not ideal for your systems to be separate, you may choose to sacrifice some practicality in order to continue working with the software that you prefer.
Disadvantages
With credential checking software that’s separate from your other hiring and management functionalities, everything takes extra time. You have to manually import or enter information for each new candidate, and view the results on a separate platform. With hundreds of candidates and new hires, this time can become costly.
What Software Is Best For Your Organization?
Employers need to balance many priorities. Tracking applicants, certifying credentials, and managing employees is all a part of necessary and daily processes. Healthcare HR teams need to be able to verify and manage employee credentials throughout the hiring process. The faster these credentials are verified, the faster the hiring process. License verification helps screen candidates by confirming they have active licenses, can legally work in the desired geographic area or field, and are qualified for the position. Without a proper system in place, it’s much harder to conduct background checks prior to hire.
Once a new hire has been onboarded, credentialing is HR’s next priority. Credentialing involves securely storing and monitoring employee licenses and certifications. This ongoing process may also include tracking employee documentation, identifying missing or expired information, and facilitating license renewals to maintain compliance.
So at a bare minimum, you need software that can verify licenses and credentials. More ideally, you’ll find software that lets you do all of that while still juggling your hiring and management needs.
While undergoing digital transformation, healthcare organizations need to look for HR technologies that help hire large numbers of in-demand workers. In other words, employers need seamless, effective staffing solutions that can handle both applicant tracking and employee management.
Apploi’s All-in-One Platform
At Apploi, we’re committed to simplifying hiring, onboarding, and employee management for healthcare HR professionals. From recruitment marketing to secure documentation storage, we offer a robust, customizable platform that helps you manage the employee lifecycle. Apploi manages credentials while also offering onboarding, management, and hiring functionalities.
Built with healthcare in mind, our platform takes workforce management a step further, enabling organizations to verify employee licenses on an ongoing basis and manage credentialing from a single platform. Apploi also helps you gain insight into recruiter performance across facilities, so you’re never hiring in the dark.
Interested in learning more about bringing your HR process online? Contact us today for a free demo of our leading software solution.
