As the industry increasingly feels the impact of the physician shortage, many physician recruitment leaders find it takes more time, effort, and incentives to attract physicians. Leaders look at physician recruitment metrics to identify areas of improvement and often focus on the average amount of time it takes to fill a position. While understanding how long searches take at your organization is important, other recruitment metrics provide more actionable insights that allow you to make real-time adjustments as your search progresses. That said, time-to-fill often matters most to internal physician recruitment teams.
As Regional Vice President of Recruiting for Jackson Physician Search’s Midwest Division, I partner with healthcare organizations all over the Midwest. The first question asked by most clients is, “How quickly can you find us a physician?” I can quote average time-to-fills for various physician specialties (and I will happily share this data). However, I make sure to ask them, “How quickly can you hire the right candidate?”
What I mean by this is that if the right candidate entered the pipeline today, are you set up to move them efficiently through the process? In many cases, the answer is no. So before we worry about the external factors impacting time-to-fill, such as a limited candidate pool or remote location, I advise clients to focus on what we can control — the internal recruitment process. We call this metric “time-to-hire.” This refers to the length of time between a candidate applying for a job and that same candidate accepting an offer.
Questions to Ask to Improve Time-to-Hire:
To ensure my clients set themselves up for optimal time-to-hire, I ask them to walk me through each step of the recruitment process so we can address any issues that could potentially slow us down. Recruiting a physician involves many moving parts, so it’s essential to ask the following questions:
Are stakeholders aligned on candidate requirements?
Everyone involved in the hiring process must agree on the skills, experience, and values the ideal candidate must possess. A disconnect in this early stage allows candidates to move through the process only to be rejected by stakeholders who were not present when defining (or not in agreement with) the initial job requirements.
Is everyone involved in the interview process ready to prioritize scheduling?
For a candidate, excitement peaks at the point of the call and then again at the site visit. If too much time passes between the initial conversation and scheduling the following interview, they will likely lose interest or find another more appealing opportunity. To prevent this, recruitment teams cannot let time lapse between closing out one interaction and scheduling the next one. This means stakeholders must agree to be flexible and willing to move other commitments around to accommodate candidates’ schedules.
Is the compensation defined within a reasonable range?
If they haven’t already, I first assist clients with a market analysis to ensure they are advertising competitive physician compensation. I advise clients to go to market with a strong offer. They should also have an approved range already defined so that any necessary negotiations can move quickly.
Is there a template contract and offer letter prepared, and is it clear what is and is not negotiable?
As soon as you find someone you want to hire, you need to be able to extend an offer and present a contract. Organizations must have contracts and offer letters in place. Similar to compensation, they should know where they have room to negotiate.
Ideal Physician Recruitment Timeline
If you can confidently answer “yes” to the questions above, your organization is well prepared to execute the following ideal physician recruitment timeline. Of course, this assumes that the candidate is also motivated to move quickly, which may or may not be the case. Once a candidate applies, strive for the following timeline.
- Phone screen within one week of application
- The recruiter presents the candidate within one day of the phone screen
- The organization conducts a phone interview within one week of presentation
- Host an on-site interview within 30 days of the phone interview
- Extend an offer within one week of the site visit (or present the offer on-site)
- Give the candidate a deadline of two weeks to respond
Total timeline: Nine weeks / two to three months
When mapping out the ideal physician recruitment timeline, it becomes apparent that even if the right candidate appears immediately, it will likely take two to three months to get them under contract. Knowing this, the importance of having a streamlined process becomes even more evident. The good news is that improving your organization’s time-to-hire is largely under your control. With a targeted digital recruitment strategy executed by a trusted physician recruitment partner, you can be confident that the candidate you want will enter the pipeline. By improving efficiency and streamlining each step, you can ensure your process is never the source of delay.
Physician recruitment metrics reveal actionable insights to improve your organization’s recruitment processes. At Jackson Physician Search, we analyze data for thousands of searches nationwide to develop physician recruitment benchmarks and identify trends that inform our recruitment strategy for each client. Reach out today to learn more about our process and discover how we identify physicians who will fit, succeed, and stay with your organization.
About Tara Osseck
With more than 15 years of experience in the healthcare industry, Regional Vice President of Recruiting Tara Osseck specializes in matching healthcare organizations with physicians who are a strong fit for the role and the culture. Her healthcare career began as a physician liaison. It quickly expanded to include physician recruitment, strategic planning, and business development, working for various hospitals throughout Memphis, Tennessee, and St. Louis, Missouri. Based in St. Louis, Osseck leads the firm’s Midwest Division, placing providers across the Midwest and Upper Midwest. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Truman State University and a master’s in health care administration and management from The University of Memphis.
