Landing a remote HEDIS nursing role without prior experience can be tough, especially when life’s challenges make the career pivot even more demanding. In 2022, I found myself in that very position, on maternity leave and facing the daunting decision of whether I was going to return to my full-time remote nursing job after becoming a mom. Despite loving my job and the company—who were incredibly supportive and even offered me a part-time role—I made the difficult choice to resign. My heart was just telling me that for this season of my life, I needed to be fully present for my baby.
But stepping away from my job didn’t erase my desire to continue working as a nurse. I had heard about seasonal HEDIS abstraction jobs and knew it could potentially provide the work flexibility I craved. However, I also knew that landing one of these roles without prior experience could be incredibly competitive and challenging. But because of the potential benefits of that flexible schedule, I dove in, determined to make it work.
Frequently Asked Questions
"How do I get hired without experience?"
Companies offer on-the-job training for these seasonal HEDIS roles. There are a few spots open for nurses without prior experience (varies by team/company), so they want to see that you already have the transferable skills to pick on the HEDIS abstraction process quickly. Your resume is your marketing tool to show off these skills to potential employers. They have a defined amount of time to get their charts abstracted for the season, so they want nurses who are coachable, learn quickly, are tech-savvy, detail-oriented, dependable, value quality work, receive constructive feedback well, are analytical, and organized with excellent time management skills.
"What courses can I take?"
Depending on your situation & skills, you may not need to take any courses at all! Perform a skill gap analysis on yourself to help identify where you need to focus your efforts to fill in the gaps for your resume to target HEDIS jobs. It’s not all about your years of nursing experience but also about knowing what transferable skills hiring managers are looking for (see above FAQ). Are you tech-savvy and comfortable with Windows-based computers & Microsoft Office software? If not, learn those skills & include them on your resume. Do you feel entirely out of the loop as to what HEDIS even is? Read about the different HEDIS measures on NCQA’s website, and if you still feel like you’re lost, consider taking their Intro to HEDIS course. Do you have strong auditing and analytical skills? If not, then get involved in quality projects where you currently work to gain those skills. Sometimes, nurses have all of these skills and just aren’t showcasing them effectively on their resume. If you feel like this is you, consider joining the premium membership or How to Get Hired for HEDIS course. There is also a free membership option to access a free HEDIS tips guide and introductory video course.
HEDIS seasonal work was appealing to me for a variety of reasons: not only did my skill set perfectly align with this role as an introvert, but it also offered me the flexibility to spend an entire year with my baby before returning to work. In the long term, it would allow me to have summers and winter holidays off during her childhood. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but I was ready to do whatever it took to make it happen. I realized early on that if I didn’t get a solid application strategy in place, I might just be wasting my time applying for these jobs. I was willing to make compromises, even if that meant not landing the coveted PRN flexible hours HEDIS job most other nurses were also targeting.
So, I shifted my mindset and focused on the possibility of working full-time from January to May with a flexible schedule. And I’m happy I did! I ended up accepting a role with a fantastic small team of nurses who took me under their wing and offered incredible support as I learned how to abstract HEDIS measures during my first season. The schedule with this team turned out to be a perfect fit for my situation, even better than the PRN role I initially thought I wanted.
If you’re in a similar position, hoping to secure a HEDIS seasonal contract but worried about your lack of experience, you’re not alone. I’ve been there and am here to give 5 tips to help you gain relevant experience for these roles! Below are five strategies you can start working on right now to help you gain the necessary skills and experience to stand out in this competitive seasonal remote nursing role with no prior experience.
Volunteer for Quality Improvement and Auditing Projects
One of the best ways to gain relevant experience for HEDIS abstraction jobs is to get involved in quality improvement and auditing projects. All areas of nursing have quality improvement projects and committees to get involved in! Reach out to your hospital’s quality department or ask your nursing manager if you can participate in unit-based quality improvement projects, such as reducing patient length of stay and decreasing fall rates or infection rates. These projects often include auditing tasks to extract data from the medical record for evaluating the process, which will allow you to gain the transferable auditing skills that managers are looking for when hiring nurses without prior HEDIS abstraction experience.
Diversify Your Nursing Experience
If your clinical experience is primarily in an inpatient setting or only in one specialty area (L&D, Neurology, OR, etc.), consider gaining additional nursing experience in additional specialties, as well as in a clinic or physician’s office setting. HEDIS hiring managers often look for nurses with diverse clinical backgrounds, including experience in ambulatory or clinic settings, due to the diverse nature of the HEDIS abstraction measures. If you have a variety of nursing experience, be sure to showcase it in your resume and professional summary!
Volunteering just a few hours a week or month in a clinic setting can give you the experience you need to “showcase” your additional diverse clinical knowledge on your resume. Reach out to local physician clinics or free clinics to see if they need volunteer nurses. This experience will not only enhance your resume for other remote nursing jobs but also give you a broader understanding of the healthcare delivery process, which is invaluable in HEDIS roles.
Optimize LinkedIn and Start Networking
Setting up an optimized LinkedIn profile is a game changer for nurses looking to break into a seasonal HEDIS nursing abstractor role. This tip is often overlooked & not effectively used by nurses to land remote nursing jobs! You want to make sure your profile is optimized for the job you are targeting by including relevant transferable job skills that will attract recruiters who are searching for HEDIS candidates. You’ll also want to connect, interact, and network with other seasoned HEDIS nurses on LinkedIn. Joining LinkedIn groups focused on HEDIS or healthcare quality can also provide valuable insights and networking opportunities. Recruiters frequently use LinkedIn to find nurses for HEDIS abstraction contracts, so having a profile optimized for HEDIS abstraction roles can significantly increase your chances of getting noticed and landing a job. I’ve got more free tips on optimizing your remote nurse LinkedIn profile in the Free Remote Nursing Jobs Getting Started Guide.
Enroll in NCQA’s “Intro to HEDIS” Course
Companies offer on-the-job training, teaching nurses how to abstract HEDIS measures. But if you want to boost your resume with relevant courses, consider taking the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s (NCQA) “Intro to HEDIS” course. This ANCC-accredited course covers essential topics like HEDIS terminology, the audit compliance process, and various HEDIS data tools and resources. Completing this course enhances your HEDIS expertise and could potentially help you stand out to employers. While it doesn’t guarantee a job, it could be viewed as a resume booster that might potentially set you apart from other candidates.
Bonus Tips
#1 My first bonus tip is to get everything you need to apply for these jobs ready before jobs start posting in late September or early October! Don’t wait until the jobs start posting to update your resume…and your bedside nursing resume will definitely need to be updated to land one of these roles!
Begin drafting your updated resume and cover letter now, making sure to include relevant nursing experience, training(s), and most importantly, transferable skills related to healthcare quality and data abstraction that are commonly included in most of these job descriptions (auditing, data entry, organization, time management, tech-savvy, EHR/EMR skills, detail-oriented and analytical). Being proactive ensures you’re ready to apply as soon as HEDIS job openings post in late September to early October. Applying early is imperative, given the competitive nature of these seasonal roles!
#2 My next tip is to be flexible your first season! Since so many nurses are targeting PRN or part-time jobs, consider the possibility of applying for/working one season for the “less desirable” HEDIS jobs. Some examples are not fully remote (may require visiting hospitals or offices to retrieve records), involving phone time calling offices to obtain records, full-time but flexible hours, and not your preferred hours or pay. Considering these other work options for your first HEDIS season will decrease the competition, which increases your chances of landing that first role to gain experience. After one season of experience, you become more marketable the following season, giving you a competitive advantage for those highly sought-after PRN HEDIS jobs.
Final Thoughts
Landing a HEDIS job with no prior experience may seem like it will never happen, but it’s entirely possible with the right strategies and mindset. Remember, your resume is your marketing tool! My experience of transitioning from a full-time remote nursing job to a seasonal HEDIS role taught me that flexibility and a willingness to adapt can lead to unexpected, amazing opportunities. Focusing on writing a strong targeted resume, gaining auditing experience, and learning how to market yourself as a highly qualified candidate for these seasonal HEDIS roles will significantly help your chances of landing a role when hiring season starts!
If you’re looking for help to learn how to leverage your transferable nursing skills to land these roles, check out our course, How to Get Hired for HEDIS: Strategies for Nurses. You’ll also earn 2.9 nursing continuing education contact hours!
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