Hospital employment climbs 11% in January 2010

Employment at the nation's hospitals rose 0.11% in January to a seasonally adjusted 4,698,700 people, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. That's 5,000 more people than in December and 28,300 more than a year ago.

Without the seasonal adjustment, which removes the effect of fluctuations due to seasonal events, hospitals employed 4,691,400 people in January, 9,200 fewer than in December but 28,800 more than a year ago. The nation's overall unemployment rate fell by 0.3 percentage point in January to 9.7%.

Read the full article in American Hospital Association News, or click here:

http://www.ahanews.com/ahanews_app/searchNewsNow.jsp?date=02/05/2010

Physician Relocating: Resources to Make your Move Easier

Most of the physicians we place in new positions require relocation. Making a career move that involves relocation often engenders two competing feelings: excitement about the new challenge and destination, and apprehension about the logistical and time-consuming tasks that moving entails.

The New England Journal of Medicine has published an article on how to make relocation for you and your family as easy as possible so you are able to focus on the exciting prospect of starting in your new position.

There are many resources available to make your move as easy as possible. The first place to look for assistance in relocating (other than from the recruiter you are working with!) is the employing organization or practice. Many groups and health care organizations can either provide direct assistance to relocating physicians and their families, or access to trusted community resources. These can help to simplify the process of choosing a neighborhood, real estate agent, school, or any of the dozens of services recent arrivals are likely to need.

Physicians should also indicate any special needs of family members. It is not unusual for a hiring practice or organization to provide assistance with a spouse’s job search (given that 80% of households are two-income families now), a child’s educational needs, or an aging parent’s care.

Read the full article, including links to resources that help provide relocation assistance, at The New England Journal of Medicine, or click here:

http://www.nejmjobs.org/career-resources/physician-relocation.aspx

Interviewing Skills for Job-Seeking Physicians

The New England Journal of Medicine has published an article written by Dr. Robert Kuramoto on interviewing skills for physicians, how to prepare yourself before the interview, ace the interview, and on follow-up after the interview.

Dr. Kuramoto elaborates on each point, but here is a summary of how to prepare yourself for an interview:

-Research the Practice or Hospital
-Be Ready to Discuss Your Professional Goals and Personal Interests
-Be Ready to Sell Yourself
-Act Like This Is the Only Interview That Matters
-Prepare a Comprehensive List of Questions
-Speak Positively about Your Experiences and Don’t Disparage Former Employers
-Review Your Travel Itinerary to Ensure Punctuality
-Dress Professionally
-Bring Your Spouse, if Invited
-Don’t Avoid the Subject of Money, But Don’t Dwell on it Either
-Schedule Strategically
-Send a Thank You Note after the Interview

Your recruiter can help with a lot of these points to make you excited and prepared for your interview and to impress the facility or group you are meeting with.


Read the full article in The New England Journal of Medicine, or click here:

http://www.nejmjobs.org/career-resources/physician-interview-skills.aspx

MGMA Guidline Survey Results: Physician Compensation

MGA, the Medical Group Management Association, has published their latest physician compensation survey data. Many of the hospitals and facilities we work with base their physician salaries or income guarantees based on MGMA guidelines, which are an objective comparison of physician income based on area, experience, and training.

The key findings this year from MGMA have stated that physician compensation rose slightly in 2008, however physicians did not really see a gain as most increases were outpaced by inflation.

The survey also found that physicians in non-hospital owned practices typically earned more, although they also worked longer hours. The survey found specialty care physicians see the biggest difference with 27.72 percent more income than hospital based practices, whereas primary care physicians in non hospital-owned practices make 2.31 percent more than their counterparts in hospital-owned practice. However the compensation was remarkably similar when comparing workloads; when compensation is evaluated per physician work RVU (relative value unit, the standard work measurement unit), the data show there is little difference between group ownership.

Read the full article in MGMA or click here:
http://blog.mgma.com/blog/bid/24509/Key-findings-from-MGMA-s-physician-compensation-survey

Physician Offices Generating Jobs

Medicine continued to be the bright spot in the economic downturn, adding 21,500 jobs in December 2009, with 8,900 in physician offices, according to preliminary data released Jan. 8 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Experts suggested that these numbers not only indicated that the health system is getting stronger economically, but also that delivery of care is shifting to the outpatient setting. Most health care sectors added positions, but physician offices did so more quickly than in prior months. Hospitals did so more slowly.

Read the full article in American Medical News, or click here:
http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/01/25/bisd0128.htm

Physicians: Sharing your Space

American Medical News has published an article on things to consider when looking for an office mate.

Physicians sharing space with physicians or other health care professionals is not a new concept. But those in the medical office real estate business say interest in subleasing is growing. The transition to electronic medical records is leaving empty rooms where paper charts were once stored. Also, declining reimbursements and recessionary pressures are leading physicians to seek ways to reduce fixed costs.

Economic pressures are prompting many physicians to sublease underutilized office space. A good match can help reduce overhead and help grow a practice.

Read the full article in American Medical News, or click here:

http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/02/01/bisa0201.htm

What Is an Income Guarantee? How Does an Income Guarantee Work?

Many of the hospitals and large facilities we work with offer 'income guarantees' to attract the most qualified physicians for their openings. However many new resident and fellowship graduates are not familiar with what exactly an income guarantee is and how it is determined.

Typically an income guarantee is not a salary, but is more like a loan, or an advance, that is forgiven over time, to help a physician get started in his or her own private practice.

About.com has offered some insight into dissecting an income guarantee, the pros and cons. Read the full article here:

http://healthcareers.about.com/od/compensationinformation/f/IncomeGuarantee.htm

Here is also a good article from About.com comparing physician salaries/ compensation vs. population and town size. Read the article here:

http://healthcareers.about.com/od/compensationinformation/f/DocSalaryTownSz.htm

Physician and Surgeon Job Outlook for 2010 and Beyond

According to reports from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, in the ten year period ending 2018, approximately 26% of all new jobs will be in the healthcare and social assistance industry, which includes public and private hospitals, nursing and residential care facilities, and individual and family services.

Physicians and surgeons make the BLS list of the 30 occupations with the largest projected employment growth. During the ten year period from 2008 to 2018, the BLS projects 144,000 new physician jobs will be created – an increase of 21.8% (a rate classified by the BLS as "much faster than average").

The physician career outlook for the next year and future are positive according to these findings, although the jobs may not be in ideal locations and the workloads may increase.

Read the full article on MD Search, or click here:

http://www.mdsearch.com/physician-career-outlook/default.aspx

How has the Recession Affected Physician Recruiting?

The New England Journal of Medicine has reported on a survey conducted by AMN Healthcare on how the recession has affected physician and other healthcare recruiting.

The survey has provided a distinction between how the recession has affected physician recruiting relative to other clinical areas. In general, hospital CEOs reported that their physician recruiting efforts have been less constrained by the recession than have been their efforts to recruit nurses, pharmacists, and allied health care professionals such as therapists and imaging technologists. In some cases, rather than causing them to cut back on physician recruiting, the recession has caused hospital CEOs to accelerate their physician recruiting efforts.

The majority of CEOs indicated that the recession has not caused them to change their recruiting efforts in any clinical area, but a significant number (over 24 percent) said the recession has caused them to decrease their nurse recruiting efforts, while only 12 percent said the recession had caused them to increase those efforts.

The survey also indicates that the recession has not made physician recruiting any easier for most hospitals, and that in some cases, recruiting doctors became more difficult during the economic downturn.

As for the next six months, the majority of CEOs (over 54 percent) said they expect physician recruiting activity at their facilities to increase, while 38 percent said they expect no change. Only 7.5 percent said they expect physician recruiting activity to decrease.

Read the full article in The New England Journal of Medicine, or click here:
http://www.nejmjobs.org/rpt/recession-and-physician-recruiting.aspx

2010 Healthcare Predictions: PricewaterhouseCoopers

PricewaterhouseCoopers publishes an annual study that looks at issues it expects to affect the health care industry. Here's what was predicted for 2009 and what is predicted for 2010:

2009 predictions
-The economic downturn will require a back-to-basics approach for health organizations.
-Underinsured will surpass uninsured as providers' headaches.
-Big pharma will turn to mergers and acquisitions to build the drug pipeline.
-From vaccines to prevention, prevention will be on the rise.
-Genetic testing will reach a price point for the masses.
-Technology will be a powerful health extender.
-Hospitals will be forced to improve performance to get paid.
-Payers and employers will move the needle on health living through incentives.
-The transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 will begin.

2010 predictions
-Intense industrywide efforts to reduce health care costs will take hold.
-If Congress passes health system reform, major adjustments will be made to the entire industry.
-Physicians and hospitals will scramble to adopt health information technology.
-A greater emphasis will be placed on Medicare fraud and abuse recovery.
-The technology and telecommunications sectors will become leading players in health care.
-Big pharma's role will grow.
-Physician groups will join health systems.
-Alternative care delivery models will emerge.
-H1N1 will elevate emphasis on readiness of the public health system for outbreaks.
-Community health will be a new social responsibility.

Read the full article at PricewaterhouseCoopers, or click here:

http://pwchealth.com/cgi-local/hregister.cgi?link=reg/top-ten-health-industry-issues-in-2010.pdf