Effective Physician Staffing Plans Consider These Factors

1. Recruitment

• With 7% annual turnover, 50,000 physicians will accept new positions each year
• It takes 6-9+ months to recruit most specialties, plus it can easily reach $1 million in lost revenue per vacancy
• Low supply and high demand: to succeed, you must reach both active and passive candidates
  • Only 11% of doctors are actively seeking new jobs
  • 76% are passively looking
• How can you get their attention?
  • Craft an agile and strategic digital recruiting process
    • Job Boards: Cast a wide net with job posts and search for resumes.
    • Email: Build an opted-in, engaged database and target ideal candidates with job ads and valuable content.
    • Social Media: 80% of doctors claimed their Doximity profile, making it an excellent source. LinkedIn can be effective, too.
  • Beware: Your content must be relevant
    • 50% of physicians report that less than 10% of communications from recruiters are relevant.
• No direct mail. There are no metrics to prove ROI, you can’t adjust messaging, and you won’t even know if it was delivered.

2. Retention

• Hire for cultural fit to increase retention
• Favorable workplace culture results in:
  • 33% improvement in quality
  • 41% reduction in absenteeism
  • 50% drop in patient safety accidents
• To physicians, culture and engagement are more important than money
• Highlight organizational culture at the on-site interview
• Remember the acronym: SALE
  • Sell the community as well as the opportunity
  • Assemble your “A” team
  • Leave no questions unanswered
  • Engender feelings of excitement and a sense of being welcomed

3. Retirement

• More than 30% of physicians are at or near retirement age
• Whose responsibility is it to initiate the retirement conversation?
  • 81% of physicians think it is their responsibility, but they are less comfortable having the discussion
  • 33% of administrators believe that it is theirs
• Physicians feel that 3-6 months is enough notice, but administrators want 1-3 years
• Retain end of career physicians
  • Did you know? 28% of physicians don’t plan to retire fully
  • Introduce reduced schedule options for physicians who wish to stay part time

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