A perfect storm of demographic trends is creating a critical – and growing – gap between the demand for care and the number of doctors available to provide it.
Reform measures implemented under the Affordable Care Act will provide healthcare insurance for up to 30 million additional Americans. At the same time, AAMC reports a downward trend in medical school enrollment.
In this new environment, many healthcare organizations will struggle to find enough doctors to treat the influx of new patients. How do you bring doctors to your community in this era of intense competition for providers?
As my colleague Vivian Luce discussed in a recent National Public Radio segment, healthcare organizations have to rethink their recruitment strategies and implement best practices to attract and retain candidates in the extremely competitive marketplace.
Strengthen Appeal of Your Practice Opportunity
When you design your physician recruitment strategy, ask yourself: What is the story? Think about the reasons why a physician would want to relocate. Seek to better understand the strengths and unique benefits of your local medical community, and find a genuine passion for marketing the opportunity.
Make sure the three primary aspects of your practice opportunity are in line and optimized to attract physicians:
- Location: Even if you community isn’t home to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it may have museums and exhibits that highlight the area’s unique history and community. Discover – and then promote – these attractions for candidates. Think about the outdoor features in your area of the country, like local wineries, scenic hiking paths and parks.
- Practice: Support physicians in their day-to-day practice and enhance work/life balance with flexible scheduling, teams of hospitalist and advanced practice clinicians, and electronic medical records. Assign a mentor to new hires in order to acclimate them to the organizational culture.
- Compensation: While you can’t control your location and practice setting, you can gain a competitive advantage by tailoring your benefits and incentives package to suit physician preferences. It’s important that your compensation package is competitive with national benchmarks while structured to reflect the new reality of value-based reimbursement.