About National Health Care Associates
National Health Care Associates (National) operates a network of short-term rehabilitation and long-term care centers across the Northeast, with locations in Massachusetts, New York, Maine, Connecticut, Vermont, and New Hampshire. With a workforce of approximately 7,000 employees, National provides high-quality healthcare services to the communities they serve.
When National partnered with Appcast, they were seeking a recruitment marketing partner that could provide strategic guidance and execution support. At the time, they were facing significant challenges attracting candidates in rural and competitive markets for roles including Registered Nurses (RNs), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), and Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs).
“The primary reason for our partnership with Appcast was to gain improved exposure, receive more applications for our jobs, and access more diversified sources.”
— Anthony Scarpino, Vice President Talent Acquisition, National Health Care Associates
Challenges
Early in their partnership with Appcast, National targeted several recruitment challenges:
- Limited reach and media diversification: National relied on a small set of job boards to advertise, which restricted their candidate pool and resulted in limited opportunities to reach their full talent audiences.
- Hard-to-fill roles in competitive and rural markets: Candidate supply was limited, particularly in rural areas, making it difficult to fill essential roles.
- Lack of actionable, real-time data: Without clear insights into performance, it was hard to know where to spend – and how much – to get the best results. This often led to certain roles disproportionately consuming budget, leaving fewer resources for higher-priority positions.
- ATS migration: National was migrating to a new applicant tracking system and needed a partner that could integrate seamlessly and support deeper funnel visibility.
Solutions
To address these challenges, National implemented a multi-pronged strategy with Appcast:
- A Programmatic Approach: National leveraged Appcast’s programmatic recruiting solution to improve efficiency and expand reach. Jobs were automatically distributed across Appcast’s network of thousands of sites, with rules in place to ensure high-priority roles received the visibility they needed. Monthly apply goals per requisition helped reallocate spend to maintain a broad flow of applicants. Performance data guided budget decisions, while tools like geo-targeting and job title A/B testing boosted engagement across priority roles in rural and competitive markets.
- Full-Funnel Reporting: Appcast’s enhanced integration with National’s new ATS provided visibility into post-apply outcomes. With these insights, the team could double down on sources that delivered quality candidates – improving ROI and reducing waste.
- Candidate Engagement & Remarketing: National implemented Appcast Xtend, which allowed them to capture and remarket to candidates visiting their career site. Without any extra lift from their internal team, National was able to engage job seekers for all of their open roles through automated text and email campaigns, keeping their brand top of mind until the candidate applied.
- Exploring Appcast Search Ads with Strategic Support: As National looked to further diversify their recruitment strategy, they began exploring Appcast Search Ads to target passive talent and add a new layer of potential candidates. Appcast Search Ads provide full visibility into ROI while defending the spend. While still in the early stages of adoption, their confidence in Appcast Search Ads was rooted in the trusted partnership they’ve built with their Appcast account team. This partnership enabled National to explore new solutions with confidence, backed by expert guidance and support.
“In addition to my Appcast team being nice people and easy to work with, every call I feel we’ve accomplished something or I’ve learned something – It’s always a good, productive call.”
— Anthony Scarpino, Vice President Talent Acquisition, National Health Care Associates
Results
- Cost-per-hire (CPH) is up to 88% below the healthcare industry benchmark:
- Registered Nurse (RN): 49% below benchmark
- Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN): 65% below benchmark
- Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA): 88% below benchmark
- 46 hires across critical roles in eight months driven by Appcast Xtend.
- With real-time insights and smarter budget allocation, National applied targeted strategies to improve applicant flow to business-critical roles in competitive and rural markets.
- The Appcast account team has been instrumental in National’s success, providing data-driven strategic guidance and proactive support that has optimized performance across all recruitment efforts.
“I’ve recommended Appcast to other companies and will continue to. They’re data-driven, focused on our goals, and true partners when it comes to troubleshooting and solving challenges.”
— Anthony Scarpino, Vice President Talent Acquisition, National Health Care Associates
