When your organization is looking to fill a physician partner within your medical group, consider the expense of recruiting a physician.  Recruitment starts with exploring the position requirements, such as growth, community needs, etc.   Financial analysis should be performed to determine the potential financial growth and marketing opportunities of the practice with the addition of a provider/s.  The next step is to employ experts in the recruitment process to investigate appropriate credentials for the candidate that you wish to attract.   Once you have identified a potential candidate in mind your investment becomes greater.Typical expenses included in the recruitment process can include staff time, travel accommodations, and contract negotiation expense.   Usually after some amount of courting from both parties a decision is made and you have found whom you believe to be the right candidate for the position.

Once the candidate is recruited your priorities change with the initiation of the onboarding process.  This can involve many support personnel such as Provider Enrollment, Human Resources and Billing.   In some practices you,  a single, key person may do all of the above, however the investment of time and expense is no less.   Recruiting a new provider can add additional expense such as renovations and equipment purchases. The investment must be funded throughout the process, yet there are no guarantees that the candidate will be the right fit for your organization’s corporate culture.

To help identify a candidate that will fit well within your corporate culture establish a pre-screening process that will help ensure the relationship is a success.  Too many companies are overcome with procedural processes that overshadow some of the most important indicators of a good candidate.  Consider the expense if failure results from your recruiting and screening efforts which could be substantial if you fail to place the right candidate. Some characteristics of personality are more apparent than others.   It is usually easy to identify during the interview process personality traits such as the candidate being an introvert, extrovert, sense of humor, or flexibility.   What if you required detailed screening information such as a “Personality or Trait” tool? There are many tools available to help with this process. This could detect personality traits which may indicate that the candidate is not the ideal option for your corporate culture.  Other methods used to help pre-screen physician candidates are to have them shadow at your practice for a period of time to monitor how the person handles certain situations and interacts with patients, other providers, and staff.

Too many companies spend time and money in the recruitment processes with little assuranceof positive results   The time and expense that you invest prior to onboarding a physician candidate should be sufficient to look at all consideration, which helps ensure the relationship will be a success going forward. Remember to look at all factors of incorporating a new physician into your practice and not become too focused on financial gains or “settling” for a fair candidate that presents early in the recruitment process. By developing a screening process, candidate’s personality traits and characteristics can be identified and evaluated to determine if their addition will benefit your organization. Corporate cultures are created to establish values and purpose to which all employee must be able to exude in their job performance- including physicians.

Written by:
Renee Weir, CMPE
Executive Consultant
Medical Management Services