The Leading Business Education Network for Doctors, Financial Advisors and Health Industry Consultants

Filling the Funnel with Candidates

By Susan L. Theuns; PA-C, CPC, CHC

The best-kept secret about physician recruiting is to keep the funnel filled with a pool of candidates. With the dearth of primary care physicians – and some specialists for example – modern healthcare organizations can’t afford to wait for doctors to beat a path to their door; they have to go after the physicians they want.  That means generating a sizeable list of prospects on the front end to narrow it down to the 100 or so doctors who will be called for an initial conversation.  From there, the team may do some 50 telephone screening interviews to generate five site visits in order to select the one perfectly matched prospect who will sign on the dotted line.

The Prospect List

Depending upon the opportunity, there are a number of ways to generate a list of prospects:

• Direct mail using a purchased list of physicians culled from criteria such as medical specialty and current geographical location.  The American Board of Medical Specialties, the American Medical Association [AMA], and licensure boards can supply these lists.  The organization sends direct mail announcing the opportunity and then has a team member follow-up with outbound calling.  If the physician is not interested, the caller should ask if s/he knows someone who is.
• Personal calls following recruitment fairs and specialty meetings.
• Advertising in medical and specialty journals and on the web, Twitter, etc.
• Resident campaign using posted flyers and announcements.
• Physician networking based on group member recommendations.
• Medical Staff Office contacts at the local hospital.
• Networking through specialty or group management organizations. Some organizations offer free on-line job postings for members.
• Affiliations with residency programs.

Screenings and Interviews

From the initial pool of candidates, the internal recruiter must call prospects and conduct preliminary screenings to verify licensure status and board certification, gather professional and personal details about the candidate, and answer his or her questions about the opportunity. Whenever possible, research should be done to secure the prospect’s home or cell telephone number. Calling prospects in the evening at home gives them more time and privacy to talk freely.

www.BusinessofMedicalPractice.com

Assessment

Although this screening step generates a smaller list of credible prospects that meet the search criteria generated at the beginning of the recruitment process, it is a more viable one.

Front Matter: Front Matter BoMP – 3

About the Author: Susan Theuns has an extensive background in healthcare, business management, facilities/operations and compliance that spans three decades. She holds degrees in Allied Health and Business Management and has been a Certified Physician Assistant for 32 years. She is also a Certified Professional Coder and is certified in Healthcare Compliance. Susan has published a variety of articles for Coding Edge, Healthcare Compliance Today, and the Group Practice Journal and serves on the Advisory Board for Ingenix.  Her professional memberships and affiliations include the American Medical Group Association, National Honor Society in Business Administration (Delta Mu Delta), Health Care Compliance Association, American Academy of Professional Coders, and the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. She was MedStar Health’s Compliance Director of the Year in 2003 and is currently Administrative Director of Physician Practices for Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. 

Conclusion

And so, your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.

Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com and http://www.springerpub.com/Search/marcinko

Our Other Print Books and Related Information Sources:

Health Dictionary Series: http://www.springerpub.com/Search/marcinko

Practice Management: http://www.springerpub.com/product/9780826105752

Physician Financial Planning: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/0763745790

Medical Risk Management: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/9780763733421

Healthcare Organizations: www.HealthcareFinancials.com

Physician Advisors: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.com

Subscribe Now: Did you like this Medical Executive-Post, or find it helpful, interesting and informative? Want to get the latest ME-Ps delivered to your email box each morning? Just subscribe using the link below. You can unsubscribe at any time. Security is assured.

Link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/HealthcareFinancialsthePostForcxos

Sponsors Welcomed: And, credible sponsors and like-minded advertisers are always welcomed.

Link: https://healthcarefinancials.wordpress.com/2007/11/11/advertise

Filed under: Experts Invited, Practice Management | Tagged: Physician Recruitment, susan theuns |