In 2020, StaffDNA launched an industry-first digital marketplace for healthcare professionals to find and manage jobs for travel, local and permanent positions. The staffing agency’s mobile app provides all information in real-time and there’s no registration or profile required.

In an exclusive interview with Founder & CEO of StaffDNA, Sheldon Arora shares his inspiration behind launching the most advanced self-service platform that has revolutionized the industry. He discusses insights about the digital marketplace, its benefits for healthcare travelers and plans for future expansion. The number one downloaded app in the industry, StaffDNA is available in the Apple and Google Play stores.

What inspired StaffDNA to launch the Digital Marketplace for Healthcare Careers®?

Self-service apps have changed the way we live, but that was missing in the staffing industry—an industry that has been stagnant for more than 75 years. Healthcare professionals are especially busy caring for our communities 24/7 and lack ample time; it’s become unrealistic for them to have to rely on recruiters and 8-5 business schedules.

So we created a new self-service staffing model built on the best, first-of-its-kind mobile technology that’s completely integrated with Applicant Tracking System (ATS) software end-to-end; everything occurs in real-time. Our mobile platform is entirely automated—for healthcare candidates, staffing agencies and employers.

With StaffDNA, healthcare professionals have complete control and flexibility to find and manage jobs themselves, on their own schedule that fits their lifestyle. For example, they can view all jobs and details directly from the hospitals including the charting system, cancellation policy, floating requirements, scrub colors and more. There’s the ability to personalize pay packages depending on needs such as travel allowance, housing and benefits for medical, vision and dental benefits. They can see everything without having to register or create a profile—it’s truly transparent.

For the first time, healthcare professionals have the power to pick and choose where they submit to and get notifications in real-time such as submittal updates, offer status changes and extension requests. When a healthcare facility extends an offer, the candidate is the first to know.

What has the response been?

Within the first five months, StaffDNA has signed on more than 2,500 clients. We received more than 100,000 unique mobile app downloads in less than 6 months and are currently averaging 20,000 new downloads per month, making us the number one downloaded app in the industry. We’ve opened 23 states during COVID-19 when offices were closed and working remotely, and we will be operating in all 50 states by end of 2021.

The feedback we’ve received since launching our digital marketplace has been unbelievable. In fact, other staffing agencies are using our platform to verify their job details. While hospitals are using our platform see that their jobs are posted and giving us remarkable feedback.

What are its challenges?

With the self-service model, professionals have to do a little more work themselves and pay more attention to where they’re submitting themselves to (such as the size of the facility, charting system used, unit size, Trauma Level, etc.).

Just because it’s an online platform doesn’t mean you don’t need to have the proper team and talent in place. Our experience has shown that you still need the fundamentals of a staffing organization such as recruiters and client advisors, but in a different approach.

What has been the impact of Covid-19?

Pre-Covid, healthcare facilities were already facing staffing shortages. Now, the demand for travel nurses and allied health professionals has skyrocketed more than ever. More people are leaving their staff positions to join the temporary healthcare staffing world because of the incredibly high pay packages being offered.

Because of the high demand from COVID-19, several other companies have entered the online nursing platform space. But they may not have the functionalities such as mobile technology or ATS integration, so the user experience is very different.

Plans for the future?

StaffDNA has a very exciting outlook for the future. We’re currently adding more geographic locations and expanding to more professions and specialties. We’re also planning to add more industries beyond healthcare such as IT, construction, industrial, etc. Stay tuned.