By Michael P. Broxterman, CEO, Pinnacle Health Group and Terry Lane, Editor
Today, more than ever, healthcare providers are depending on physician staffing plans to help them define the optimum physician specialty mix they need to support their patient population. However, physician staffing plans do more than provide a list of needs to healthcare providers-they also make sure providers are in compliance with government rules and regulations, identify services which are critical to the continued success of the organization, identify geographic areas of strength and areas for development, and provide prospective candidates with proof that their specialty is in demand in the given organization and location. Furthermore, healthcare providers who utilize physician staffing plans demonstrate a commitment to the community-a desire to fully understand and fulfill the healthcare needs of the population they serve.
But why hire physician staffing planners at all? Why don’t healthcare providers “do it themselves?” After all, aren’t they most qualified to determine their own needs? According to John Beckman of Beckman & Associates (Atlanta), “Healthcare providers are some of the busiest people in the world. They have other functions to do, they are doing other types of planning activities. Also, they haven’t necessarily seen other utilization statistics from across the country-they are pretty much concentrated in their own local community. Additionally, the medical staff really appreciates the hospital hiring an outside, independent, third-party consultant. This proves to the medical staff that the hospital is truly concerned about them.”
Beckman explains that third-party consultants are able to perform duties bias-free. “We don’t know the medical staff,” explains Beckman, adding “and when we do physician interviews, we don’t just ask them what their needs are, we talk to them about quality of care issues, pending retirements, their private practice, concerns they may have with the facility, and so on-a lot of times, physicians won’t open up as much to an in-house person as they will to someone who is from outside the organization.”
How do healthcare providers know when they need to hire new physicians, and what type of physician specialties they need? Do they guess-make assumptions? What are the risks involved when the wrong physician mix is in place? “The wrong mix will create several problems,” explains Beckman. “First, there could be a loss of income, because there may be an oversupply of physicians. Second, physician-to-physician referral patterns are going to be disrupted. Third, it could create dissention among the medical staff because they are a competitive group and if you bring in competition to some of the existing physicians, they aren’t going to be happy. Fourth, you have to look at how the wrong physician mix will effect the community. Community resources will be affected, there may not be enough space or facilities in the hospital. This will affect patients getting their tests in a timely manner-access to services in a timely manner, and also access to the right kinds of physicians.”
The answer is simple. Physician staffing planners are experts in staffing trends and statistics, and population demographics. They study how your geographic population is aging, what kinds of healthcare services are needed, the type of medical coverage is available and used, how many babies are expected to be born in a given year, even how ZIP code borders are likely to change over time.
Using statistics and data from the U.S. Census State and County Demographic and Economic Profiles; institutional and ambulatory care ZIP code reports; statistics produced by city, state, and federal agencies; national incidence-of-disease rates (which estimate the needs for physicians in specific locations and are used to project current and future needs for new or expanded services that might also require additional physicians); and other data, Physician staffing planners look at the “big picture” to help you acquire exactly the right kinds of physicians, in the right quantity, at the right time. This equates to better service to your community and higher profits for your organization.
| Benefits of Using a Physician Staffing Planner |
| Physician staffing planners are experts at problem-solving and have a variety of data sources at hand to help you meet your goals, and remedy concerns and issues in a timely and cost-effective manner. |
| Checks compliance with government rules and regulations. |
| Provides prospective physician candidates with an objective third party opinion that will demonstrate that a need for their specialty exists. |
| Allows for input by physicians regarding physician need, quality of care issues, practice issues, areas of collaboration between Hospital and physicians, etc. through confidential onsite interviews. |
| Identify the optimal staff mix by physician specialty needed to meet strategic, managed care/capitation, market share, and fiscal goals. Adding the wrong physician may conflict with the ability of the hospital to accommodate additional patients. |
| Identify medical staff priorities and implementation strategies including: recruitment; redirection; succession; referral patterns; hospital/physician collaboration; and medical staff consolidation. |
In conclusion, the benefits of using a physician staff planner are many-fold. Healthcare providers who do not use physician staffing planners are basically, “shooting in the dark” and may, potentially, lose a lot of time and money. Furthermore, the community may not receive the level of service they deserve and expect. Physician staffing planners are able to provide a clear picture of the right number and mix of physicians you need to enable you to establish realistic recruiting goals and to ensure your organization’s continued profitability.
About Beckman & Associates
John C. Beckman, M.A. has more than twenty years of experience in healthcare planning, management, and consulting services, specializing in medical staff development, strategic management, integration analysis, practice valuations and practice operational assessments. Beckman is a faculty member for the Society of Healthcare Planning & Marketing of the American Hospital Association. Contact John Beckman at: Beckman & Associates, 5101 Vernon Ridge, Dunwoody, GA 30338, Phone: 770-551-0984.