The Dow Jones crossed the 15,000 mark for the first time ever, and the housing market recovery is gaining force as home prices rebound. This is good news, especially for hundreds of thousands of physicians who delayed retirement and relocation plans while their portfolios and home values were in the tank.
But this spells bad news for medical practices already suffering from a physician shortage and the prospect of newly insured patients looking for care in 2014.
With stronger investment portfolios in place, late-career physicians are ready to set retirement dates, continuing the historical relationship between turnover and the economy. During the 2012 recovery, physician turnover hit an all-time high. That's likely to increase as nearly a quarter of physicians are past their 60th birthdays.
Are you prepared to overcome retention challenges?
Keep Physicians in Practice with Flexibility and Work/Life Balance
As physicians move into the later stages of their careers, flexibility and quality of life become more important. Working with your physicians to achieve work/life balance will improve job satisfaction and encourage physicians to stay in practice longer. Incorporate the following strategies into your staffing plan to retain pre-retirement physicians:
- Flexible or part-time hours allow physicians to ease into retired life and enjoy the best of both worlds. Find an option - like a four-day workweek, job sharing, floating schedule, extended days (i.e., hours on) or weekend hours - that works for your practice and staff.
- Mentoring programs keep older physician engaged in the culture of the practice and offer a way for physicians to give back and shape the future generation of clinicians. Collegial relationships also increase job satisfaction and commitment.
- Sabbatical leave improves long-term retention and helps improve the health and wellness of your physician staff.
- Non-clinical committee membership keeps physicians engaged and invested in the practice despite reduced hours.
- Hospitalist and advanced practice clinician support allow physicians to manage their time more efficiently and makes medical practice more enjoyable.
Lori Schutte, MBA, is president of Cejka Search, a physician, allied health and healthcare executive search firm providing services exclusively to the healthcare industry.