by Michelle Penoyar, Staff Writer
An established medical group in a rural community works to attract physicians by offering free food. You may ask: How is free food a feasible way to attract a scholarly, highly-intelligent physician to an opportunity? This idea may sound more like a way to entice a dog to behave, but in actuality, it was a great way to attract potential candidates. The food was being used as an outlet to bring medical residents who were located in the area to speak with administrators from the medical group. The free meal hooked them and then the conversations helped reel them in.
The medical group was holding a ‘Dine and Dash’ event where residents were invited to a local steakhouse to pick up a free meal and take it home to enjoy with their families. The only thing asked of the residents was to engage in a brief conversation with practice administrators while the meal was being prepared. The event gave the medical group potential leads and allowed them to make personal connections. By thinking out of the box, the rural practice was able to gain a larger pool of local candidates.
Studies within the healthcare industry tell us that there is currently a physician shortage and it is bound to get worse. In fact, the Association of American Medical Colleges has predicted the United States faces a shortage of more than 90,000 physicians by 2020. Is your practice currently feeling the pressure of trying to find physicians within the dwindling pool?
Even though there is a lack of physicians, the U.S. Department of Labor has predicted employment of physicians and surgeons to increase by 24 percent from 2010 to 2020. The increase of physician and surgeon jobs is better than the average for all other occupations. More jobs are available and there are fewer physicians available to fill these positions. This dynamic gives physicians the upper hand in choosing where they want to practice.
Many doctors are taking full advantage of this situation by spending more time exploring available employment options. Have you ever spoken with a candidate who has several other offers on the table? What makes your opportunity better than the five others he or she is considering? It is more important now than ever to have a recruitment strategy in place for bringing in new physicians and a plan for keeping current employees from seeking positions elsewhere. It is time to put your creative cap on and find innovative ways to make yourself stand out among the crowd.
There are many different strategies to help in recruitment and retention. Each hospital has unique features that they should highlight throughout the recruitment process. Lead with your assets and learn to make your practice shine. Some general tactics to use in your recruitment and retention plan include the following:
- Cater to your candidate’s spouse to ensure his or her needs are being met. Show them the aspects of the community they find most important and create a personalized experience they will not forget.
- Make the hiring process as quick and simple as possible. Drawing out contract negotiations can cause a candidate to look elsewhere.
- Offer physicians work-life balance. Learn what is important to candidates and compromise when determining opportunity requirements.
- Offer onboarding to enable a newly employed physician to integrate into the practice and community culture. If physicians feel like they fit in, they are less inclined to relocate.
- Offer leadership roles to your physicians. This can keep current physicians happy while showing candidates there is the opportunity for growth within your practice.
- Show your appreciation through words and actions. Create a way to highlight the achievements of your physicians.
There are many ways for your practice to stand out, but in order to do so, you must put the effort into recruitment and retention planning. Ignoring physician recruitment may leave you scrambling to find doctors. The time to plan is now.
So what are you doing to attract doctors? Please share other creative strategies that have been successful by leaving us a comment in the box below. Maybe it is time for you to start offering free steaks!