Where to Recruit New Physicians and Midlevels
The limiting factor to growing your business really comes down your answer to one question: How well can you recruit new providers? If you find this process a little daunting and sometimes overly challenging, you're not alone. With the nationwide shortage in physicians predicted to continue growing, and an increase in the number of Medical Practice facilities popping up simultaneously, it is not always an easy feat to accomplish. So Where Do You Begin? Some Medical Practice owners prefer to use the physician recruiter method. They agree to pay a steep placement fee in exchange for the recruiter to find them a candidate. Placement fees generally range from $15,000 to $30,000 per physician placed, or the equivalent of a salary to hire your own part-time in-house recruiter. Build The Team When we did the numbers on how much we were spending on recruiter fees, we decided to create our own in-house physician recruitment team. We didn't hire anyone new. Instead we assigned a few new duties to different people. As the marketing director for our Medical Practice clinics, I was the natural fit to lead the initial hunt. We assigned someone else the duty of coordinating visits (travel, community tours, etc...), and then our medical director and managing partner handled the interview process. I thought recruiting a new provider would be easy. In some markets it has been. In other markets, my search talents have really been put to the test. But I have found through trial and error there are a few good tactics to try in every market. Tactic 1: Utilize Free Online Posting Sites This should be a no-brainer. If it is free, why not do it. Sure it will cost you a bit of time, but there are a lot of sites that allow you to post or publicize your job for free. Some of the ones I have had success finding candidates from include Craigslist.org, CareerMD.com, and MDSearch.com. Tactic 2: Utilize Social Media LinkedIN is the premiere social media site to take advantage of when you begin recruiting for a new provider. While I don't utilize their paid job postings, I have had luck finding potential candidates simply by posting the job in my home feed. The key to being successful here is taking time on a weekly basis to build your network. You never know who is going to know someone and pass on that you're recruiting. Outside of LinkedIN, you should also post your job on Facebook and Twitter, again, simply for the networking that may come by sharing your staffing needs there. Facebook ads are also designed so you can narrowly target candidates, and their cost per click or impression is much cheaper than other online advertising routes. Tactic 3: PracticeLink My greatest tool in recruiting physicians comes via a paid subscription to PracticeLink. For a little more than $2,000/year I have access to their online database of provider resumes, and I am allowed to post two help wanted ads at time. Tactic 4: State Medical Associations Finally, contact your state medical association and see if they have a mailing list of board certified doctors that you can purchase. Utilize the list to target the physicians via a letter or postcard mailout. I typically start with physicians located within a certain mile radius of our facility, and then I continue expanding that radius with additional mailouts if I am not able to find someone right away.
Article By: Tina Bell Tina Bell is the Director of Marketing for HealthCARE Express®, where her responsibilities include spearheading the company’s social media and internet strategies, leading the in-house physician recruitment team, and developing aggressive programs to promote patient satisfaction and effective service recovery. Tina speaks nationally at industry conferences including the Medical Practice Association of America and the National Association of Occupational Health Professionals. She is the director of business development for Medical Practice Success and an independent Medical Practice marketing consultant.
