Direct hire or a staffing agency for a virtual medical assistant

What an agency does

With an agency, the agency stays between you and the person doing the work. It adds its markup to every invoice, every month, for as long as that person works for you. The worker typically receives only part of what you pay. The agency’s supervisors direct the work, and if the person leaves or does not suit, you end the contract and lose the person you trained.

What a direct placement does

With a direct placement, a recruiter finds, screens and presents the person, and you choose. You pay one placement fee, once. After that, every month costs you their pay and nothing else, and every dollar of it goes to them, because you pay them directly. They work in your hours, and you direct the work with your own clinical team.

Side by side

• Every month. Agency: wage plus the agency’s markup. Direct placement: their pay only, no markup.
• The fee. Agency: on every invoice, for as long as they work. Direct placement: one placement fee, once.
• Who directs the work. Agency: the agency’s supervisors. Direct placement: you, with your own clinical team.
• Their wage. Agency: the worker receives only part of what you pay. Direct placement: every dollar goes to them.
• If they leave. Agency: you end the contract and lose the person you trained. Direct placement: a free replacement, for up to 12 months depending on the cover you choose.

When an agency still fits

If you want someone else to supervise the work day to day, an agency fits better, because its supervisors direct it. A direct placement fits a practice that wants to run the work itself and keep the person it trained.

Questions to ask any provider

• What exactly do I pay each month, and to whom?
• Who directs the person’s work?
• What happens if they leave, how long does that cover last, and what does it cost?
• How long until I meet a first candidate?

Our answers: you pay one placement fee and then pay them directly; you direct the work; a replacement is free for 2 months, 6 months or 12 months, whichever cover you choose; and you meet your first candidate in about 1 week at Entry level or 2–3 weeks at Experienced, or within 3 business days with a Priority search. How fees and the warranty work has the detail.