How to Choose a Physician Recruitment Firm, Part 2 (Making the Right Choice)

by Michael P. Broxterman & Wendy Abdo, Staff Writer – Pinnacle Health Group

What Methods Will You Use?

It is important to locate the right physician for your organization, but how will you do it? Will you do your own recruitment? Should you use a recruitment firm and if so, what type of firm would work best? Before starting your search, these questions must be addressed. An agency’s approach to physician recruitment is an important factor to consider. Therefore, you must also ask the prospective recruitment agency probing questions before hiring their services. As we discussed in Part I of this article, there are generally two types of recruitment firms: (1) contingency search firms, and (2) retained search firms. Alternately, your organization may have the resources needed to implement your own recruitment campaign. How can you determine which route to go? Below are three different scenarios that might shed some light on the matter.

Three Example Scenarios

The three main categories that tend to differentiate physician recruitment strategies deal with the size of the medical facility. For purposes of simplicity, we have broken these categories down as follows:

– Hospital A is a large hospital in a major metropolitan area.
– Hospital B is a mid-sized hospital in a growing community.
– Hospital C is a small hospital located in a small town.

Because of its populous location, Hospital A usually has no trouble finding physicians. In fact, doctors may approach Hospital A directly for job opportunities. Since this type of hospital already has a long list of employed doctors, it also gets a steady supply of referrals. Hospital A’s internal recruitment staff is very effective at screening and following through on leads. Therefore, it will do most of the physician recruiting in-house. However, it will use the help of contingency and retained firms occasionally, generally using contingency firms when they require faster than normal turnaround and retained search firms when they have a highly specialized need for a particular physician group.

This mid-sized hospital is located in a growing community and, while not as efficient as a larger hospital, does have a well-qualified in-house physician recruitment staff. Physician leads are not as plentiful, but they do get a certain amount through referrals. Consequently, about half of their candidates are found on their own while the other half must come from physician recruitment firms. They tend to use contingency and retained search firms equally.

Hospital C is a small hospital located in a rural region. Because of its limited personnel, this type of hospital does not have the resources available to employ an internal recruitment staff. Therefore, most of its recruitment is outsourced to physician recruitment firms. Physicians are typically not attracted to small town hospitals. Therefore, Hospital C must rely on recruitment firms to implement more aggressive advertising and marketing campaigns to gather leads. Hospital C prefers to use retained search firms because of their success rate at finding candidates willing to make long-term commitments to the hospital who also meet their requirements and fit in well in the small community.

Questions To Ask

In order to determine whether to use a contingency or retained firm or to recruit solely on your own, it is helpful to ask yourself several questions:

1. How much assistance can your medical facility devote to the recruitment process?
2. How soon do you need the position filled?
3. How much money are you willing to invest in your search?
4. How specialized is the position you are trying to fill?
5. How important is long-term commitment when compared to other requirements?

If you decide to use an outside search agency, you should ask the following questions:

1. How long has the company been in business?
2. What is the company’s reputation?
3. Do their services extend nationally or are they limited to a particular region?
4. Do they recruit for all specialties?
5. How much industry experience and expertise do its search consultants have?
6. By what means are candidate references and background checks verified?
7. Does the company have a list of satisfied clients they can give you?
8. What is their success rate in placing quality physicians?
9. What strategies and processes do they use in their searches?
10. Is the company a member of the National Association of Physician Recruiters (NAPR)?

Once you have given a search firm your business, you must evaluate their ongoing performance by asking these questions:

1. Is the company effectively communicating with you during the search?
2. Are the candidates they present of good quality?
3. Are they supplying you with complete information on candidates before the interview?
4. Is the firm professional and ethical in its business dealings?
5. As a result of using their services, has the recruitment process become easier or more difficult for you?

These questions are helpful in determining what direction to take. You may discover that contingency firms serve you well or find that a particular retained firm is the best approach to take. Regardless of your choice, patient care must be your top priority. By looking for recruitment firms that have the finest reputation in matching quality physicians with medical organizations, you are safeguarding your own organization’s reputation and financial success.

Conclusion

Ultimately, your decision depends on your own individual needs. You must be prepared to investigate your alternatives and ask yourself specific questions to determine whether you are equipped to do your own in-house recruiting or require the assistance of a retained or contingency search firm. If you choose to use a physician recruitment firm, you should expect the company to deliver on its promises, provide excellent customer service, and back up all its guarantees.