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Ethical Standards: What You Should Look For in a Recruitment Firm


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

You are driving across the desert on an empty highway. There is no other vehicle in sight as far as the eye can see, and you are speeding along enjoying the ride. Up ahead in the distance you see a stop sign. However, the roads are vacant from all directions. You know there is no one around. What will you do? Will you stop or speed through the intersection?

Questions like these define ethics and set the stage for the war between principles and personal gain. While each person may struggle in defining their own personal standards, in physician recruitment there is no justification for running through the proverbial stop sign. Yet, “traffic violations” are commonplace in the recruitment world and medical organizations must understand what constitutes a violation and how to avoid working with disreputable recruiters.

Ethics Defined

Ethics is defined as:

  1. The rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession.
  2. A set of principles of right conduct.
  3. A theory or a system of moral values.

Though we have the definition, ethical standards are still hard to define. Why? Because each person and organization may have a different standard of behavior.

What’s Important?

First, It is essential to determine how an ethical recruitment firm should conduct business. This is outlined by four, “must have” keystone qualities:

  • Thorough telephone interviews
  • Proper referral skills
  • Outstanding ethics of upper management
  • Use of the NAPR’s guidelines

Why should firms conduct thorough telephone interviews? Because it is crucial to pre-interview physician candidates before their scheduled interviews. This procedure allows the recruiter to assess the candidate’s credentials and establish a positive rapport with the physician. It is also important to follow proper referral skills. As businesses rely more and more on the Internet for communication, some recruiters have found it tempting to broadcast a physician’s CV to more hospitals and groups than that physician may want. That is why it is vital a recruiter pick up the telephone and ask the candidate’s permission to send his/her CV to a particular client rather than to any and all clients that may or may not be interested.

With the recent Enron debacle, it is more important than ever to ensure that upper management displays only the very best ethical traits. Upper management sets the example for others in the company. If the CEO is not implementing good business ethics, you can bet that no one else in the company is either. The National Association of Physician Recruiters is likened to the Better Business Bureau of the physician recruitment industry. They set an established standard of ethics for all members to abide by. Therefore, it is no surprise that the fourth keystone quality is a recruiter’s use of the NAPR’s Standards of Practices and Procedures to guide their business practices.

The NAPR’s Code of Ethics

NAPR’s Standards of Practices and Procedures offers ethical rules that each member agrees to follow. Below is a recap of eight important rules that all physician recruitment firms should aspire to:

  1. Negotiate fee and obtain a written contract with client or another recruiting firm before presenting a candidate.
  2. Maintain the confidence of the client and candidate at all times.
  3. Accurately describe the candidate’s employment history, qualifications, and salary requirements.
  4. Do not make unsolicited referrals.
  5. Refer candidates only if they possess qualifications specified by the client and only with the candidate’s permission.
  6. Withdraw a referred candidate’s name immediately upon learning that the candidate has previously and properly been referred by another recruiter.
  7. Firms that have a financial relationship with a client cannot recruit a candidate from that client for a period of one year following the last placement.
  8. Do not make false or misleading statements about one’s organization, firm, or services or about another organization or its services in the course of advertising, marketing, or other communications.

Building a Good Relationship

A commitment to open, ongoing, and timely communication is essential. If a recruitment firm does not respond quickly and is not straightforward in its communications, you will soon regret doing business with them.

In addition, you may find yourself in the middle of a disagreement between two recruitment firms who are fighting over a presented candidate. This is undesirable to say the least and may put you in the bad position of referee. Hopefully this will not happen but if it does, the NAPR can help take the burden off your shoulders by deferring the disagreement to their Ethics and Arbitration Committee if both competing firms are NAPR members.

Questions To Ask a Recruitment Firm

While searching for an ethical company, there are questions you can ask that will help pinpoint whether the firm is trustworthy. We have listed some important questions below:

  • How long has the company been in business?
  • What do colleagues have to say about the company’s reputation?
  • How much industry experience and expertise does its search consultants have?
  • Can the company give you a list of satisfied physicians and clients you can contact?
  • What strategies and processes do they use in their searches?
  • Is the company a member of the National Association of Physician Recruiters (NAPR)?

Thomas Babington Macauley once said, “The measure of a man’s character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out.” Physician recruitment firms can have character flaws just as people do. That is why it is important for medical organizations to recognize unethical traits that can cause potential problems. Finding a recruitment firm that puts ethical standards first will prove a valuable asset to you as you build your physician workforce.

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