Physician Recruitment Today

This has been an interesting few years for physician recruitment. Of course we are constantly hearing of the physician shortage, but with the current economy and health care reform it has added a complicated factor in to recruiting physicians today.

The New England Journal of Medicine has published an article referencing 3 key findings to recruit and retain physicians.

To summarize the recommendations of the article, the NEJM suggests these 3 points to recruit and retain physicians:

• Offer compensation models competitive to today's physician: take in to consideration competitive compensation but also other factors that entice physicians such as quality of life, shared call, paid CMEs and malpractice, bonuses, etc.
• Offer leadership and/ or ownership potential
• Be competitive in offers regardless of the economic situation

The current physician shortage across not only primary care but all specialties will only increase. Retaining and recruiting physicians will become more competitive than ever, top candidates will be more enticed with competitive offers than they are today. However, as the needs of physicians change, hospital groups, private practices, and even academic facilities need to evolve to attract physicians in a changing marketplace with new employment preferences.

Read the full article in the New England Journal of Medicine, or click here:
http://www.nejmjobs.org/rpt/intentional-retention-starts-with-recruitment.aspx

Check List: Job Offer Incentives for Physician Candidates

During the negotiation process there are many factors to consider outside of salary/ compensation alone. There are many other considerations physicians can leverage during contract negotiations.

We found a good check-list from Med Center today; although this article is geared toward academic physicians, the same considerations can be applied to candidates considering hospital employed and even private practice opportunities.

Here are some suggestions the article recommends to discuss during employment contract negotiations:

• Moving Expenses
• Sign-on Bonuses
• Guaranteed minimum salary
• Contract terms
• Loan re-payment assistance
• Relocation Assistance

Many of the other suggestions are geared specifically towards physicians seeking careers with academic facilities. However candidates seeking all models of employment can also negotiate call, paid time off, paid expenses (licensing, training, CME, etc.), and many other factors outside of compensation contributing to the physician's total quality of life.

Read the full article in Med Center Today, or click here:

http://www.medcentertoday.com/checklist.php?id=66

Physician Employment: Leveraging Benefits with Hospitals

Hospitals have become very creative and flexible on how they are able to attract new physicians and also consider merging with current physician groups. If physicians are able to negotiate during the offer process they are often able to get the practice set-up and other benefits they want.

Not only are physicians able to negotiate for hospital employed positions, but hospitals can also be flexible with joint ventures, non-profit physician networks, and making EMS and other software available to community physicians at a discounted rate.

Other terms physicians can negotiate, particularly for hospital employment opportunities, are flexible schedules and workloads, benefits, paid CMEs and other continued training, vacation and paid time off, and call schedules.

Read the full article in American Medical News, or click here:
http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/11/15/bisa1115.htm

MGMA Annual Conference: Outlook Pending Healthcare Reform

The Medical Group Management Association has had their annual conference in New Orleans. Many of the speakers indicated healthcare reform has left a pending synopsis of the state of healthcare.

Throughout this year healthcare providers have seen many changes to current regulations as well as new implementations. Exactly what will happen when healthcare reform takes place is also undetermined.

According to speakers at the conference, there are 3 payment models to watch:

• Accountable care organizations

• Bundling of payments

• Value-based payment modifiers

Many sessions focused on general reform objectives – how to control spending, improve access, create incentives and enhance quality.

Read the full article at Healthcare Finance News, or click here: http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/mgmas-outlook-still-waiting-reform