Across South Florida, and indeed most parts of the world, healthcare systems are under strain. Healthcare workers are experiencing unprecedented levels of burnout in hospitals and beyond.
Flexibility in the healthcare workforce has never been more critical. But HealthGigJobs, a West Palm Beach-based startup, is developing an online marketplace to bring more flexibility for healthcare workers and medical providers.
“The idea is to provide a platform where workers and employers can negotiate directly,” HealthGigJobs co-founder CEO Leon de Jerez told Refresh Miami. First things first, healthcare workers fill out a profile detailing information like their specialties, location, and level of experience. HealthGigJobs then checks the worker’s documentation and onboards the worker if the startup is able to verify their credentials.
Businesses go through a similar process and are then able to post jobs seeking, for example, a nurse to cover an afternoon shift one day or a radiologist to review 30 charts. HealthGigJobs’s proprietary matching engine then lists the professionals that match the requirements for the job. These professionals can also view that gig on their dashboard. At that point, the workers and employers can go back and forth to agree on a price.
“The unique aspect here is not the matching,” explained de Jerez. “There are other technology platforms out there that match workers, but there are none that have the dynamic bid–counter bid system that we have.”
HealthGigJobs’s marketplace is free for workers. Businesses are charged a fixed $35 fee per gig, plus a 7.5% surcharge for gigs over $250. Providers that use HealthGigJobs include independent physicians, home healthcare providers, and urgent care facilities.
Rick Yarosh, co-founder and President of HealthGigJobs, first came up with the concept of the HealthGigJobs marketplace in 2018. A physician assistant by training, Yarosh started and sold a healthcare temp agency. After he sold the business, Yarosh was able to hold onto its underlying tech stack, which he then used to build HealthGigJobs.
In November 2019, de Jerez and Yarosh decided to go into partnership, after de Jerez spent some time working with the startup in a consulting capacity. Since then, the 12-person team has been busy developing a minimum viable product and doing extensive user testing. Last week, HealthGigJobs formally launched their platform.
De Jerez expressed optimism about South Florida’s tech ecosystem. “It’s a good market if you’re looking for junior to mid-level talent,” he said. “FAU in particular has done some phenomenal work in building industrial parks and developing an ecosystem that feeds talent into businesses.” But he said that he struggles with finding senior talent and funding locally.
According to de Jerez, the initial funding for HealthGigJobs came from Florida doctors. He noted that as the company plans to expand, they will need to seek capital from major investors in other tech hubs around the US, including Silicon Valley.
Looking forward, de Jerez hopes that HealthGigJobs will validate the idea that being a gig worker can lead to – or help someone develop – a fulfilling career. “I think gig work is here to stay,” de Jerez asseted. “And I think it can go one of two ways.”
He continued: “It can either be indentured servitude, or it can be a really powerful life enforcing career choice. What we’re committed to doing is providing all the tools necessary for it to be the latter.”
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