Physician Recruitment Survey Sheds Light on Common Recruitment Struggles

The physician shortage, paired with physician turnover and retirements, is placing healthcare facilities under increasing pressure to recruit and retain physician talent. As healthcare coverage needs continue to grow, in-house recruiters are being asked to do more with less. The average in-house recruiter was responsible for 31 searches in 2017, a sharp increase from the 2016 mark.

Recently, the Association of Staff Physician Recruiters (ASPR) surveyed in-house physician recruitment professionals and released its annual benchmarking study of in-house physician recruitment.

The benchmarking study found that, at the end of 2017, only 60% of active searches were filled, leaving 32% of positions still open. Of those filled, specialty care positions took over 5 months to fill and primary care and surgical specialties took almost 4.5 months, on average.

Other Key Findings

• Locum tenens physicians are increasingly relied upon to provide supplemental coverage due to the overall shortage and the increased time to fill certain positions;
• Physician turnover in rural communities rose, while turnover elsewhere declined; non-physician providers realized a marginal increase in turnover in the past year;
• Over 70% of participating organizations last year were searching for a Family Medicine physician, followed by Hospital Medicine, Internal Medicine and Neurology, all over 50%, respectively;
• Not surprisingly, Neurology had the highest days-to-fill count, on average (211 days); Family Medicine and Internal Medicine searches, for the typical-sized health system, required six months to fill;
• Having adequate support staff and an applicant tracking system were both factors associated with fewer days to fill overall;
• Organizations with over 50 physician and provider searches per year managed by its in-house team typically have five staff members, including one or more in support staff roles. This compares to two staff members, the typical size of in-house staff for several years.

Locum Tenens Can Ensure Your Most Crucial Openings Are Covered

If your hospital was to have an open Primary Care position for 6+ months, how much would your facility lose in revenue?

With an average primary care physician generating $700,000 of revenue for a healthcare system in that 6-month span, working with an agency like Health Carousel Locum Tenens can negate some of that lost revenue while your physician recruitment team finds a permanent replacement.

Handling Physician Recruitment Staffing A-Z

The ASPR benchmarking study found that, while most healthcare companies didn't employ support staff in their physician recruitment department, those that did saw quicker fill rates and higher levels of staff productivity.

Health Carousel Locum Tenens not only recruits for and markets your open positions, but we take on the bulk of a support staff's role, as well. From scheduling interviews and checking references to handling the credentialing process and travel/housing needs, we give you back precious time to focus on other searches your in-house team is handling.

The Health Carousel Locum Tenens Advantage

Working with a locum tenens agency can decrease your recruitment time, lower your recruitment budget, and free up your in-house physician recruitment team to focus on specialty searches and retention.

Our recruitment staff has over 15 years of experience and a proven record of filling hard-to-place specialties. Contact the team at Health Carousel Locum Tenens today.