Why is it so Important to Nail the First Interview?

It comes down to the power of the first impression. It may seem counterintuitive, but follow-up interviews do not necessarily increase the likelihood that a physician will accept your offer. Plus, multiple interviews drive up your cost per hire, as well as impact your ability to meet patient care demands and revenue goals.

No two physician are alike, and neither are their needs when considering a new position, especially when it includes a relocation. A highly customized experience is essential. Every on-site interview should include two parts:

1. Interviews with all key stakeholders.
2. A personalized community tour.

After you’ve done everything in your power to identify a physician who will fit in your culture and is interested in the opportunity, you’ll want to create a welcoming interview experience that reflects your organization’s unique strengths.

Start by planning the interview for greatest impact. Structure a comprehensive, well-organized interview that leaves no questions unanswered, and have your A-players demonstrate alignment with organizational mission and values.

Healthcare administrators and recruiters who coordinate a well-planned, efficiently delivered, on-site interview experience will be more successful in influencing a candidate’s decision to accept the job offer. You’ll also position your organization to:

• Rise above the competition.
• Earn the trust of the physician and spouse.
• Become their number one choice.

Also, most organizations understand the high costs of conducting multiple interviews with a candidate. But since only 27% of candidates we surveyed as part of our 2020 Physician Interview Experience White Paper decided to accept the position on the way home from the first interview, it appears that few deliver an interview experience that will improve speedy offer acceptance.

Candidates who decided to accept on the way home reported:

• 89% had all questions answered.
• 61% received a written offer within a week.
• 80% felt excited and 82% felt welcomed.
• Ranked alignment with the organization’s mission and values at a 9.2/10.

Download the Recruitment Guide to learn more about the two parts of an exceptional on-site interview experience and to review a helpful interview checklist.

To speak further about your interview process or for help with your physician and advanced practice provider recruitment needs, contact Jackson Physician Search.

This is Part 1 of our complete Guide to Physician Recruitment. With any process, it is best to start by assessing your unique needs and developing your strategy. This handbook helps you do just that with step by step instructions for developing a strategic physician recruitment plan. Download Part 1 of our Guide to Physician Recruitment. This PDF handbook defines six key steps on your path to building a strategic physician recruitment plan.

Developing a Strategic Physician Recruitment Plan: Part 1

The physician shortage continues to be a growing concern for hospital CEOs and executives and consistently ranks in the top 5 concerns along with financial challenges and governmental mandates. You can download a study about the physician shortage from the American College of Healthcare Executives.

To combat physician shortage, it is critical to develop a strategic recruitment plan. Recruiting top physicians can be an expensive and time-consuming process for hospitals and health systems, which is even more reason to do it efficiently. This guide is a support tool for our clients as well as those hospitals who are still exploring their strategy for physician recruitment.

Our four decades of experience in partnering with hospitals and healthcare organizations across the country to develop strategic recruitment plans helps us have a unique perspective and wide knowledge base, which we are eager to share here.

From the hospital CEO to the physician recruiter, this broad-spectrum guide offers you a clear path toward optimizing your efforts and your investment in physician recruitment. And, if you find you need additional assistance at any point, we are available for an in-person consultation. Contact us.

Top 5 Indicators You Need a Strategic Physician Recruiting Plan

1. Lost Revenue – Each day you are recruiting is thousands of dollars in lost revenue. Hiring more quickly will benefit your hospital’s bottom line as well as productivity, morale, and patient loyalty.
2. Recruitment Time – According to a recent report from ASPR, the average placement time for physicians is between 109 and 128 days.
3. Losing New Patient Opportunities – If you are having to turn away patients because you don’t have the capacity to see them, then your recruitment needs are critical.
4. Left Scrambling – Few hospitals and healthcare groups have physicians in the queue ready to start. If you need to backfill a position, you are most likely experience patient rejection and lost revenue.
5. Competition – Competition with another facility creates the urgent and essential need for strategy and effective marketing of your open positions.

Defining a Strategic Physician Recruitment Plan

A strategic recruitment plan is simply a roadmap to assess, create, and launch effective recruitment for your physicians and other providers. Whether the CEO or the physician recruiter, you and your team need to be able to critically evaluate the needs of your system and obtain buy-in from key stakeholders and decision makers to develop and execute an optimal recruitment strategy that benefits your whole organization. A strategic recruitment plan is part of a well-designed medical staff development plan that encompasses:

• Physician Alignment
• A Community Needs Assessment
• Population Analysis
• A Five-Year Strategic Plan
• Input From Key Stakeholders
• Metrics and Benchmarks to Analyze Effectiveness

How to Add Strategy to Your Recruiting Plan

Being strategic in your recruiting helps save your organization time and money while ensuring you find the right physicians and advanced practice professionals to grow your business. It took an average of 128 days to fill positions across all specialties in 2016, according to the 2016 Association of Staff Physician Recruiters report. An internist, for example, brings in an average revenue of &823,900 for a facility each year, Jackson Physician Search found in its annual Physician Salary Calculator. That adds up to nearly half a million dollars in lost revenue for your hospital while you’re looking for a new hire.

It’s increasingly important to not just recruit quickly but to recruit the right doctors. Estimated turnover costs are as much as $1 million per physician after factoring in recruitment, start-up and lost revenue costs. A solid recruitment plan will enable you to find the right doctors for the right positions at the right time.

Remember, there is no other resource in your hospital that will give you a greater return on investment than a physician. For that reason, we encourage you to recruit and retain these professionals carefully and strategically.

To read the rest of this guide, please click the download button.

Part 2 of our Guide to Physician Recruitment focuses on site visits. How you execute a physician site visit has a huge impact on the decision of your candidate. This recruitment guide has tips that will help you prepare for site visits. You can view or download the entire guide for free. Part 1 is our guide to developing a strategic physician recruitment plan.

How to Expertly Execute Physician Site Visits

Physicians and their families have unique needs when considering a career move or new practice setting. A personalized and refined physician site visit is essential.

Do everything in your power to target the type of physicians who would appreciate your unique characteristics. Present your community and facility favorably. Control the sensory-emotional experience you deliver, from the very first contact to the final follow-up, and every touch in between.

Recruiters who successfully coordinate and manage the physician site visit will position their organizations to:
Rise above the competition
Earn the trust of the physician and spouse
Become their number one choice

The organization will have a healthier interview-to-hire ratio, faster time-to-fill, higher acceptance rate, and lower recruitment expenses.

Overcome the “Practice Utopia” Expectation

Most physicians understand there is no perfect job in the perfect place. Their mindset is both: Optimistic (hoping to fulfill their needs and wants) & Cautious (looking out for risk or challenges)

Bad News: You can’t control your location
Good News: You can control your interview experience
Once a physician identifies your location, they focus on fit.

Set Expectation Before the Site Visit
Do: Listen for both work and family needs
Do: Uncover and address issues in advance
Don’t: Bring a physician in for an interview if deal-killers exist

Speak with the Spouse

• Gain insight into how involved they will be in the decision.
• Understand their expectations.
• Explore the family’s needs with open-ended questions.
• Foster connections.
• Avoid unimportant time wasters.

The Site Visit is the…

Key time to determine cultural, operational and philosophical fit. “Secret Sauce” that differentiates hospitals and facilities who recruit successfully from the rest. Opportunity to create a feeling of familiarity that permeates the entire interview process.