A physician shortage is still projected by many sources. Odds are, if you are trying to recruit physicians, you are likely feeling the effects of this in one or more specialties. In order to expand your pipeline of potential candidates during a shortage or hard-to-find specialty situation, you need to be more creative and move beyond the common recruitment practices of job boards, emails and direct mail pieces.

Although financial incentives are an effective recruiting tool, they’re not going to necessarily separate you from the crowd. Signing bonuses, school loan repayment and production incentives have become fairly common practice.

To help you add to your candidate pool, here are a few other suggestions you may want to consider:

• Provide referral incentives – Offer great recruitment incentives to your current staff. Who better to sell your location and facility than your current doctors? Provide very lucrative bonuses for referrals that get signed. Residents who join your staff this year can be instrumental in recruiting residents one to two years down the road. Follow-up with an announcement to residents about their classmates who join your staff.

• Be flexible – Consider signing physicians who may not be available for another one to two years. Keep your options open with an eye on the future – build a funnel of candidates.

• Plan ahead – Just like in the previous point, you’re going to have to cement a good medical staff for the next five years. With a shortage looming, it’s imperative to start preparing for tomorrow today.

• Keep your eyes open – Be sure to start tracking and recording those physicians you may need in the future. Don’t wait until you’re desperate to try and locate the specialty you need.

LOCUM TENENS – The Human Approach

One of the most creative ways to expand your staff is the use of Locum Tenens. After all, Locum Tenens physicians who “fall in love” with a location will stay on full-time. Like a long interview process with no pressure to sign them immediately, you may introduce them to opportunities they may have never even considered before. Familiarizing them with a friendly and competent support staff will help them feel like they belong there. Find out what makes them tick personally and show them how to find it in your community. Woo them by being welcoming.

REAP SUPERHUMAN RESULTS

Most hospitals view this as an expensive option, but is it? You bill for their services while giving your existing physicians work and call coverage relief. And what is the benefit to retaining your existing staff? If you can at least break-even when securing Locums physicians, it may be well worth it. Still, many hospitals find they actually make money by billing for these physicians’ services.

Jamey Morgan
President

Pointers from Concorde’s 50 Years of Matchmaking Success

Are all the good doctors taken?

No, there are other physicians in the sea. But with all the options out there for today’s eligible physicians, healthcare facilities must raise their game if they want to land Dr. Right. So what can you do to woo that special doctor? At Concorde, we’ve seen a lot of what works and what doesn’t over our 50 years in recruiting (30 in physician recruitment). Based on our experience, here are four rules to follow in attracting physicians during the shortage.

1. Know your true needs. Not every open position is an emergency. Some hospitals will advertise five different specialties, but back off when a physician shows interest. That can really hurt your reputation. Word gets around quickly if you have a habit of flaking out on candidates. We’ve had specialist candidates ask us if a hospital was serious about an advertised opening because they’ve heard of or experienced employers’ indecision too many times. Get your act together and go out looking only for the positions you know you’ll need.

2. Make that call. The number-one reason physicians lose interest is that employers don’t get in touch with them quickly enough. They’re usually thinking: If the slow response is any indication of what it’s like to work there, then no thanks! Contact a physician within 48 hours of receiving their CV, even if it’s just to say you’ve received it and share some info on the position and the hiring process. This practice can increase your odds of getting a candidate to interview by 30%.

3. Show them the love. First impressions matter, and many physicians want to have the impression that they’re loved. If you think there’s a chance at romance, take it. Your courtship skills are essential because committing to a job can feel like getting married after just one date. First, figure out the way to a candidate’s heart. Often, it comes down to location, location, location. If so, be ready to highlight everything that’s great about your facility’s community. In determining what a candidate cares about, an outside recruiter can be a key ally. Physicians are more likely to tell a third party what they really want, thinking (albeit incorrectly) that they’ll lose a negotiating edge by telling an in-house recruiter.

4. Show them the money. But bigger isn’t always better. Physicians have learned that if a financial package is too high, there’s probably something wrong with the job. On the other hand, they’re also looking for strength and stability. A subpar financial offer won’t land the physician of your dreams unless they really love your location and or the practice. Typically, they’re looking for evidence of strength and long-term viability. Few things demonstrate that better than an above-average offer and, most importantly, great production incentives. Compensation with high incentives is a win-win – as long as the physician can see it’s achievable. You may want to have your current physicians speak with a candidate to show that the package isn’t a mirage.

Are you looking for a physician to love? Follow these rules as a path toward happily ever after. Concorde can help you along the way. Contact us to get started.

Jamey Morgan
President

There’s plenty of speculation, but no one really knows what effects the Affordable Care Act will have on health care staffing.

It’s safe to assume the shortage of physicians will intensify due to the influx of new patients. In a few years, the main issue will probably be in Primary Care. But the initial overload may actually be on Specialists – Gastroenterologists, Pulmonologists, Cardiologists, Endocrinologists (diabetes), Oncologists, Rheumatologists, Vascular Surgeons, etc.

Why would Specialists be strained before Primary Care? The thinking is that people who haven’t been insured until now haven’t been receiving preventative care. They’re not accustomed to seeing a Primary Care Physician for routine check-ups that focus on issues such as nutrition, exercise and other habits.

Serious health conditions that lie beyond the scope of Primary Care may have gone untreated for many years. And now, these patients finally may try to get relief as quickly as possible with the help of Specialists.

Whatever happens as the ACA takes effect, rest assured that your partners at Concorde are keeping a close eye on the changes nationwide. We’re determined to help you meet your evolving needs with high-quality physicians and Allied Health professionals, so don’t hesitate to let us know how we can help.

Jamey Morgan
President

At Concorde, we enjoy long-term relationships with many of our clients. In the coming months, look for testimonials on our website that review our services & approach. We aim to ensure we continue to meet the high standards expected from our team and look forward to sharing our success.

From previous research, we know that Concorde clients value our responsiveness and reliability, along with the consistently high-quality candidates we provide.

However, we know we’re only as good as our latest interaction. Therefore, in the coming months, we’ll share feedback directly from our clients and candidates on a new page of our website, designed to help you get a first-hand review of our services and approach.

We’re eager to learn from our clients’ experiences so we asked them for their candid input on how we’re meeting today’s most pressing needs. Once collected, we look forward to sharing their feedback online to provide examples of how we can serve you.

On behalf of everyone at Concorde, we sincerely appreciate the continuing partnership of everyone we work with, and we look forward to sharing this new information soon.

Jamey Morgan
President

See where things are headed with physician compensation.  Review the results from a survey taken by nearly 25,000 U.S. physicians across 25 specialty areas.

The presentation below provides valuable data on physician income. Explore the latest trends in pay broken down by specialty, geography, gender, practice type and other parameters, and gain various insights into job satisfaction.

To discuss what it all means for your organization, contact a Concorde consultant online. Or give us a call anytime at 800-334-6407.We have the experience, physician feedback and relationships to provide informed recommendations on when to offer signing bonuses, loan repayments, etc.

View the 2012 Physician Compensation Report by Medscape.

Jamey Morgan
President

In the current economic and political climate, finding ways to increase revenues and incomes is on everyone’s mind. In healthcare staffing, one result of this mindset is an increasing interest in locum tenens positions – and more high-quality candidates available for your staff.

Physicians are feeling a little squeezed of late for a variety of reason.

• Increased paperwork and related overhead costs due to recent changes in healthcare
• A decrease in federal reimbursements, especially Medicare
• Fewer patients on account of economic circumstances
• Overall, working harder for less money

To offset these challenges, it’s no surprise that more and more doctors are gravitating toward locum tenens. For example, we’re working with a great full-time doctor who now says he wants to do locums jobs four weeks per year to help save for his children’s college.

The upshot for you is that, in many cases, we’re finding physicians currently seeking locum tenens work to be of a high caliber that previously was much harder to find in the marketplace. In other words, more candidates than ever are capable of passing our stringent qualification practices and satisfying the unique demands of your open positions.

Want to know more about some of these candidates? Give us a call anytime at 1-800-334-6407.

Jamey Morgan
President

At Concorde, we encourage you to think of our consultants as an extension of your organization. That’s the best way to take advantage of the high levels of experience – an average of 14 years – that you’ll find on our team. For example, meet our two Directors of Allied Health Recruitment, Andrea Egerton and Ken Williams.

Andrea Egerton
With over 20 years of experience as a Concorde consultant, Andrea specializes in permanent placements for Allied Health professionals in Radiology, Cardiology and Ultrasound. Before joining Concorde, she worked for several years as a psychotherapist, Director of Marketing for a psychiatric hospital and Manager for a hospital-based physical rehab program.

Today, that broad experience shapes Andrea’s deep understanding of what makes a high-quality Allied Health professional. She has a strong record of finding great candidates with registries in RT, RDMS, RVT and RDCS to help clients consolidate and streamline their staffs.

Ken Williams
Ken works out of our St. Louis office and specializes in recruitment of mid-level providers – Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants and CRNAs. As the physician shortage intensifies, these mid-level providers will help fill some of the gaps.

Ken joined Concorde over 10 years ago, previously having served as the Vice President of Recruiting for a large national staffing firm. He has specialized in mid-level Allied Health recruiting for over 18 years, and he’s very knowledgeable in how clinics and hospitals can deploy these professionals in all specialties to maximize their billings and revenue.

Andrea and Ken, like all Concorde consultants, act as the single points of contact for their respective clients, and they really get a handle for how to recruit for each one.

This dedicated, personal service, coupled with our team’s deep experience, helps ensure we deliver the best fit for your open positions every time. To discuss your staffing needs, I invite you to contact us today.

Jamey Morgan
President

As the physician shortage intensifies, you need every competitive edge in attracting high-quality candidates. Understanding their mindset is essential. Based on our many years of experience connecting healthcare facilities with the candidates who fit best, here are the top 10 reasons physicians choose one position over another.

1. Being employed vs. joining a practice.With so many practices being absorbed by hospitals, candidates are now more open to an “employed” position with a hospital. They want to avoid the uncertainty and upheaval of a takeover in a private practice.
2. Loan repayment assistance.  With individual medical debts as high as $200,000, any help you can offer candidates with their debt load can be an important differentiator.
3. Signing bonuses. Besides helping pay off debt, an up-front bonus also can offset the real estate and other costs associated with relocation for a new job.
4. Financial package. Money is always important, but physicians look at the entire package—salary/guarantee, RVU formula, benefits, etc.
5. Physician and administration relations. Physicians do not want to come into an adversarial or unstable situation. They will assess existing physicians’ perspectives on the administration, including how supportive the administration is of new medical technologies.
6. Timely response. Physicians appreciate a call within 48 hours of receiving their CV while the position is still fresh in their mind.  Delays in setting up a visit, responding to requests and getting contracts out kill many deals. It’s an indication to the physician about how their requests may be handled when they are part of the staff.
7. Lifestyle.  Positions offering the most attractive call schedule, hours and vacation often edge out other, otherwise comparable positions. The quality of Emergency Room, ICU, CCU and Hospitalist Programs are also important for most physicians because they can make physicians’ jobs easier.
8. Family issues. Know your candidates’ unique family requirements—schools, children’s activities, spouse/partner’s career needs, etc.—and incorporate them into the site visit.
9. Location, location, location. Close proximity to family and areas of interest is a major selling point for an open position. Family ties to the area strengthen interest.
10. The site visit. Physicians take positions where they feel welcome and fit in, which is why the site visit is such a pivotal event. Include professional meetings with physician practices and the administration, as well as a social itinerary for both the physician and spouse/partner.

Read more on the keys to signing a good candidate. And if you need advice in your specific situation, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Jamey Morgan
President

Can your organization afford to lose more physicians? With the physician shortage intensifying, it’s never been more important to address turnover challenges. And as the liaison between physicians and healthcare organizations, Concorde knows the secrets behind this critical issue.

To improve retention, first you need a better handle on why turnover happens. Here are the top six reasons we hear for physicians moving on:

• Lack of the right physician mix.Large metro areas sometimes have too many physicians in certain specialties, making it difficult to make a living. Smaller areas tend to have too few physicians, leading to burnout and on-call coverage issues. Primary care physicians prefer to have specialists on staff, and they’re not embracing the “tele-med” physicians that may be covering their hospital instead.
• Mergers and culture clashes. Change is unsettling. A new administration may have difficulty communicating with physicians, who may anticipate negative impacts. For example, mergers can lead to new contracts with lower compensation or more work needed to reach productivity bonuses.
• An inadequate hospitalist program. Physicians in most specialties include this on their must-have list when looking for a position because they tire of being on call. If the program is understaffed, the hospitalists themselves may burn out, as well.
• Questionable Financial Viability. If a practice is portrayed as being busy or potential growth proves to be inflated, physicians will leave when they determine productivity formula is not obtainable.
• Not fitting in or feeling welcome.It’s critical for a healthcare organization to embrace new staff and make sure the physician acclimates and becomes part of the community within the first 6 months!
• Last but not least: personal reasons. The family may not be happy. Friends or relatives may be too far away. You can’t control personal lives, but this is another reason to be as thorough as possible in the recruiting process to make sure the family needs of your best candidates are satisfied.

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[panel_title]Filling the Gap when a Physician Leaves[/panel_title]

There are numerous options to consider when exploring how to replace a departing physician. Here are a few of your options:

• Shifting work to another physician.
• Recruiting a new physician.
• Working with a Permanent Placement firm to recruit a physician.
• Implementing asupplemental staffingsolution to fill the gap.

Consult with Concorde to consider the pros and cons of each.

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Speaking of your recruiting process, in the next newsletter, we’ll discuss why physicians accept one position over another. Until then, best of luck in all your physician recruitment and retention efforts.

Jamey Morgan
President

How We Bring You Better Candidates.

Concorde Staff Source isn’t a giant global firm. We aren’t a mom-and-pop shop, either. And we like it that way—because our firm’s medium size plays a key role in our commitment to finding just the right candidates for your needs.

The largest healthcare staffing firms typically have enormous pools of candidates, trying to be all things to all organizations, all the time.

They may be able to quickly find a physician for your open position. But quickness isn’t your only concern. You need to make sure you find the right fit with a candidate, because your doctors are the most important public face of your organization.

That’s why, at Concorde, we’re much pickier about candidates than many firms you’ll encounter.

We follow some of the most stringent physician qualification practices—even if that means turning some candidates away. Our screening process doesn’t just look at skills, experience and continuing medical education. It also involves considering personality fit, including extensive reference checks.

The smallest firms may be able to delve into this level of detail with their candidates. But they’re limited in scope and reach. They can’t offer the breadth and depth of resources Concorde does in meeting and exceeding your staffing needs.

The size of our firm is by design—it’s designed to produce better results. For example, in the last six months, our clients were so pleased with the locum tenens physicians we supplied that they hired 20 percent of those LTs as permanent staff.

That’s a sure sign of a fit that’s just right between client and candidate, made possible by a staffing firm that’s just the right size.

Jamey Morgan
President