WIN THE BEST PHYSICIAN CANDIDATES – Three simple ways to personalize your physician recruitment communications strategy

By Michael P. Broxterman, Chief Operating Officer, Pinnacle Health Group

Few situations pain our physician recruiters and healthcare clients more than watching a promising physician candidate slip away due to a communications breakdown, whether it happens early in the recruitment process or late. A 2016 report released by the Association of American Medical Colleges and prepared by IHS, Inc. shows the physician deficit is only growing. By 2025, it’s expected that the shortage will be between 61,700 and 94,700 physicians.

While the numbers are real, finding a doctor who fits well with your culture, meets the scope of the role and is in alignment with your hospital’s goals and administration is rarely an easy task. Avoid losing desirable candidates by formalizing a physician recruitment communications strategy.

Is everyone clear on the goals of the role?

Whether working with your own in-house recruiting team or an external recruiter, it’s essential that everyone understands the caliber of physician needed, agrees to the key deliverables expected of the candidate, knows the compensation package, as well as commits to timely communication throughout the recruitment process. Absent any of these elements and top physicians are often left wondering of your sense of urgency and your overall level of organization. That alone is enough to make other opportunities look more attractive.

Think like a marketer – act like a matchmaker.

The best recruiters have a clear vision of the ideally suited physicians they’re in search of, where to find them and how to capture their attention. They’ve outlined a formal recruitment and communications process that is action-oriented, requires accountability and leads to solid achievement of recruiting goals. Such a plan includes:

1. Know what your star candidates value most. Is it location, compensation, work/life balance or a strong, collaborative leadership philosophy? Once you’ve asked those questions, and you’re sure the opportunity provides a long-term match, communicate those sticking points to everyone involved in the interviewing process. To win over the best physicians in the most competitive specialties, you’ll want to customize your recruitment and sourcing strategy appropriately.
2. Draft a win-win scenario with realistic expectations. Market realities can be a bitter pill to swallow, making it wise to be objective about the attractiveness of your opportunity, as well as transparent about what you can offer the candidate. Is the compensation appropriate for the specialty, the scheduling demands of the position, the experience desired and the region of the country in which you’re located?
3. Impress top candidates with a comprehensive site visit and ongoing personal communication. Enlist a variety of people in the process and watch every detail to create a vision of what daily work and life will be like for both candidates and their families. It can be easy to fall into a rut of setting up a string of interviews, a dinner event and a drive-by tour of the community. But by knowing what the candidate values most in a new career opportunity, you can customize the site visit to include these essentials, as well as the personal touches that put the entire family at ease. Where will they live? What schools will their kids attend? What social activities will help them acclimate quickly? Make them feel at home both at the hospital and in the community, and you’ll speed up the decision-making process considerably.

Lastly, communicate often. Once the site visit has happened, follow up calls and emails from the recruiter and the leadership team reinforce your commitment to an outstanding relationship.

Pinnacle Health Group is your total solutions recruiting partner. Offering permanent physician search, Locum Tenens and advanced practice providers, we’re committed to meeting your staffing needs. Call 800-492-7771 to learn more.