Smart strategies to help you close the deal during the physician shortage

Advertising jobs in healthcare? Here are some smart and strategic strategies to attract the medical community's top talent and retain your current talent.

The physician shortage is likely to play out differently in different regions and markets. Understanding those trends can help make you as a recruiter—and your institution—better informed and more responsive in finding and hiring top physician talent in an increasingly competitive market.

In this post, we'll talk about some of the nuts-and-bolts realities of what it takes to get your valuable physician recruits to sign on and stay on. Like practically everyone else in the healthcare system, recruiters are challenged to achieve excellent results with the available resources

As one strategist points out in a TED Talk, the keys to "doing more with less" in healthcare include looking for alternatives, keeping it simple, and looking for the opportunities that are right under our noses. Attention to detail and a realistic grasp of what it takes to land and keep top medical talent will help you succeed as a recruiter—while also contributing to your institution's performance.

Bring your best recruiting game

It's a “seller’s market” for doctors evaluating open positions, so it’s critical to be thoughtful and consistent in your dealings with valuable prospects. Top internal and external recruiters know how important it is to be on point with things like initial contact and phone interviews. This Cleveland Clinic 'Guide to Physician Recruitment' provides an inside look at how a world-class institution manages important steps like site visits and itineraries. That document offers some "surprisingly simple steps" to keep things running smoothly, from defining the initial opportunity to keeping doctors on board.

Everyone in the institution, from the front desk to the C-suite, has an important role in making prospective new hires feel welcome and valued. This whitepaper from Wolters Kluwer outlines modern best practices for physician recruitment—highlighting the need to build a personal and sustained relationship with candidates at every step along the way. Your institution's patient-centered care mission and brand also are important tools in getting doctors to see that your opportunity as one that meets their personal and professional goals. That doesn’t mean treating every candidate like a medical rock star—except of course when they are! But it does mean planning and implementing a smooth-running process that gives the department and institution a chance to shine.

Be strategic about resources

Obviously, we all have budgets to follow, and resources for recruiting are limited. That means it's more critical than ever to be smart and strategic about deploying your available resources for physician recruiting.

The recent AAPPR benchmarking report highlights the increased demands on in-house physician recruiters. In addition to 44% of all searches in 2020 being put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, physician turnover increased more than 4% since the previous year to an average of 13%. As stated by AAPPR President Emerson R. Moses, “We fully anticipate physician shortage numbers to rise, as the findings in this report reflect just the tip of the COVID iceberg. The industry was trending towards a severe shortage before the pandemic which has only accelerated the desire to retire for some, and a potential loss of employment for a percentage of others who may not comply with the vaccine mandate at federally funded health systems across the US. The field of physician recruitment has never been easy, and it’s about to get a lot harder.”

Pay attention to retention

The need to be smart about physician retention is also critical. Key perks and benefits to attract and keep professionals include sign-on bonuses and relocation pay. Human resources professionals cite personal growth and career advancement opportunities as increasingly important for retaining top employees—an option that might be especially relevant to younger candidates.

Amidst all these challenges, it's important for recruiters to stay positive and stay motivated! We may not be able to control what's going on in politics, the economy, or local and regional markets. But being smart and strategic can help you succeed in a tough and competitive recruiting environment. succeed in a tough job. Reaching out to find good matches for open healthcare positions and helping to get them and keep them on board helps hard-working doctors meet their professional goals, contributes to your institution's success, and helps keep your community healthy and thriving.