The results show a disconnect between what physicians are planning and what administrators expect.

• Physicians think notice of six months is more than enough time, while administrators would prefer 1-3 years.
• Most physicians don’t want to fully retire but plan to work part-time or contract somewhere else. Administrators are more likely to believe that when retiring physicians leave, they are leaving medicine for good.
• Physicians rank burnout as the top reason driving their retirement plans, but administrators believe it’s age.
• Economic concerns have caused four in 10 physicians to delay retirement.

Much of what we learned confirmed our expectations about how and why physicians retire; the when, of course, remains hypothetical for many and is therefore more difficult to ascertain. However, there is evidence to suggest that, regardless of age, many physicians will retire as soon as they are financially able, so healthcare organizations must have a plan in place.

In this report, we’ll first determine if indeed the volume of physician retirements is already increasing. We will then explore the when, why, and how of physician retirement as well as what organizations can do to ease the impact of what is sure to come.

Download the White Paper to Get More Insight Into Physician Retirements as well as Strategies to Prepare Your Organization for the Upcoming Wave of Retirements.

For more information about how your healthcare organization can use the results of this survey to improve your physician recruitment and retention strategy, contact Jackson Physician Search today. Our team is made up of healthcare industry professionals who have spent decades recruiting physicians, physician leaders, and advanced practice providers for healthcare organizations across the nation.

About Jackson Physician Search

Jackson Physician Search is an established industry leader in physician recruitment and pioneered the recruitment methodologies standard in the industry today. The firm specializes in the permanent recruitment of physicians, physician leaders and advanced practice providers for hospitals, health systems, academic medical centers and medical groups across the United States. Headquartered in Alpharetta, Ga., the company is recognized for its track record of results built on client trust and transparency of processes and fees. Jackson Physician Search is part of the Jackson Healthcare® family of companies.

Introduction

Despite the many warning signs of a worsening physician shortage, many healthcare administrators are not prepared for this crisis. In a 2022 study from Jackson Physician Search and MGMA, half of healthcare administrators reported that their organizations have no formal physician retention plan in place, and in a prior joint study, 67% of administrators said they do not have a formal succession plan. When a physician leaves, these organizations are left with a vacancy that can cost them millions in lost revenue and the potential inability to provide care.

This may make the situation seem bleak, and yet, as the President of the largest, privately-owned national physician recruitment firm, I am privy to our physician placement data at both the national and regional levels. Despite the tightening market, each of our regional offices are placing more physicians year after year, and the average number of days it takes to place them has decreased. This tells me that physicians can indeed be found when the recruitment process is strategic and the offer is right.

So, what is the best recruitment strategy? The right offer? What does it take to recruit a physician in the current market?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer, of course. Location, compensation, and specialty are perhaps the biggest factors impacting the time-to-fill of a physician placement. So, to investigate these questions, I spoke to several of our Regional Vice Presidents of both Recruiting and Business Development in our headquarters and regional Jackson Physician Search offices. They discussed their clients’ most pressing challenges and shared the recruitment strategies they find most effective in today’s evolving market.

Some recurring themes came up in my discussions with these Jackson Physician Search leaders – namely supply and demand issues and shifting cultural expectations – but I also noted some unique shifts happening in the market. I looked to our firm’s placement data from recent years to confirm what I was hearing from our leaders. The market is indeed changing, but under the guidance of our recruitment experts, our clients are finding ways to adapt.

Download the White Paper to Get More Insight Into Today’s Evolving World of Physician Recruitment

For more information about how your healthcare organization can use the results of this survey to improve your physician recruitment and retention strategy, contact Jackson Physician Search today. Our team is made up of healthcare industry professionals who have spent decades recruiting physicians, physician leaders, and advanced practice providers for healthcare organizations coast-to-coast.

About Jackson Physician Search

Jackson Physician Search is an established industry leader in physician recruitment and pioneered the recruitment methodologies standard in the industry today. The firm specializes in the permanent recruitment of physicians, physician leaders and advanced practice providers for hospitals, health systems, academic medical centers and medical groups across the United States. Headquartered in Alpharetta, Ga., the company is recognized for its track record of results built on client trust and transparency of processes and fees. Jackson Physician Search is part of the Jackson Healthcare® family of companies.

Introduction

Jackson Physician Search and MGMA surveyed physicians and administrators to understand their unique views on physician issues following the COVID-19 pandemic and recent staffing challenges. This survey sought to understand how healthcare organizations are trying to influence better physician recruitment, engagement, retention and mitigation of burnout, and how the clinical and administrative sides perceive these efforts.

This survey follows the 2021 Jackson Physician Search whitepaper, Getting Ahead of Physician Turnover in Medical Practices, with questions for physicians and administrators, such as:

• What is the current level of physician burnout?
• What is causing physician burnout?
• What is the current level of physician engagement?
• What is the current level of physician satisfaction with employers?
• What matters most in physician retention?
• What drives physician satisfaction with employers?

The survey was fielded in August 2022. Physicians and healthcare administrators were invited to complete an approximately five-minute survey. After qualitative interviews with administrators and physicians, key themes emerged:

• Administrators acknowledge worsening levels of burnout in physicians, but physicians often don’t perceive enough is being done to mitigate that burnout or engage them.
• Genuine, two-way communication between management/administration and physicians remains a top desire among physicians.
• Administrators vary their approaches to retention and engagement, often with informal efforts rather than structured, strategic programs.
• Organizations with physician retention programs found them effective in engaging doctors and preventing turnover.

This report presents the full findings from hundreds of healthcare leaders, shared in the hopes of amplifying the understanding between physicians and administrative leaders of the burnout crisis, the need for better engagement, and effective retention strategies that resuscitate the spirit and energy that brought so many hardworking clinicians into the field of healthcare.

Download the White Paper to Get More Insight Into Physician Burnout, Engagement, and Retention

For more information about how your healthcare organization can use the results of this survey to improve your physician recruitment and retention strategy, contact Jackson Physician Search today. Our team is made up of healthcare industry professionals who have spent decades recruiting physicians, physician leaders, and advanced practice providers for healthcare organizations coast-to-coast.

About Jackson Physician Search

Jackson Physician Search is an established industry leader in physician recruitment and pioneered the recruitment methodologies standard in the industry today. The firm specializes in the permanent recruitment of physicians, physician leaders and advanced practice providers for hospitals, health systems, academic medical centers and medical groups across the United States. Headquartered in Alpharetta, Ga., the company is recognized for its track record of results built on client trust and transparency of processes and fees. Jackson Physician Search is part of the Jackson Healthcare® family of companies.

State of Rural Healthcare

The U.S. continues to face a severe physician shortage, and unfortunately, the impact of this is often multiplied in rural communities. Around the country, “healthcare deserts” exist, meaning that people who live in rural locations – a disproportionate number of whom live under the poverty level and in poorer health – often must travel long distances to seek anything from routine care to treatment for chronic conditions.

According to the National Conference of State Legislators, “Approximately one-fifth of the nation’s population lives in a rural area, but only about 10 percent of the nation’s physicians are located there. This is considered to be one reason rural Americans have higher rates of death, disability and chronic disease than their urban counterparts.” And, of the 7,200 federally designated health professional shortage areas, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) reports that 60% are in rural areas. A few trends are converging to make the challenge of recruiting and retaining physicians for rural healthcare positions even more challenging:

• Physician retirements are imminent, with 40% of active physicians across the nation reaching age 65 within the next decade. Compounding this anticipated exit is the reality that the percentage is even higher in rural areas.
• The Great Resignation is likely to hit rural areas hard. According to Jackson Physician Search’s own research in mid- 2021, 43% of the physicians surveyed said they were considering early retirement and 46% said they were considering leaving for a new healthcare employer. This particular study addressed physicians working in all geographic areas, rural included.
• Rural-raised medical students have sharply declined, while overall medical school enrollment has increased. A 2019 study found that fewer than 5% of incoming medical school students came from rural areas. This is significant because we know that these are the ones most likely to practice in rural areas.

Every signal we’re receiving from both physicians and administrators tells us that it’s time to shake up the status quo in how rural healthcare organizations approach physician recruitment. If we’re going to realize the goal of creating better access to healthcare and improved health outcomes for rural Americans, then healthcare leaders need to reimagine how they source, recruit and retain physicians.

With that in mind, Jackson Physician Search and LocumTenens.com fielded this new research in October 2021, asking 1,311 physicians, 169 administrators, as well as 158 advanced practice providers, a series of questions to better understand the specific dynamics of working in rural, urban and suburban healthcare settings and what could be done to entice more providers to go rural. Of particular interest is sentiment broken down by the needs and desires of physicians by each generation, and our recommendations for recruitment and retention that take these differences into account.

With a focus on learning what it would take to increase the success of physician recruiting and physician retention practices in rural settings, we asked questions such as:

• What would prompt you to work in a rural setting?
• Would you be open to a locum tenens assignment that would enable you to “try out” practicing in a rural location?
• What are the top attributes of your organization’s culture that appeal to you?
• What factors would motivate you to stay at your current organization for at least five more years?

Additionally, COVID continues to influence the decisions physicians are making about their careers. Questions we asked included:

• Has the experience of working in healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated your plans for retirement?
• For those working in rural healthcare, was COVID-19 the reason you chose it?

Download the White Paper to Get More Insight Into Rural Physician Recruitment and Staffing

For more information about how your healthcare organization can use the results of this survey to improve your physician recruitment and retention strategy, contact Jackson Physician Search today. Our team is made up of healthcare industry professionals who have spent decades recruiting physicians, physician leaders and advanced practice providers for healthcare organizations coast-to-coast.

And for more information about locum tenens staffing, please contact LocumTenens.com. Since 1995, LocumTenens.com has been a full-service locum tenens agency. The need has never been greater to connect great clinicians and great healthcare facilities. LocumTenens.com recruiters work on specialty teams and focus only on one specialty. This way, LocumTenens.com medical recruiters learn the ins-and-outs and become recruiting specialists in each area.

About Jackson Physician Search

Jackson Physician Search is an established industry leader in physician recruitment and pioneered the recruitment methodologies standard in the industry today. The firm specializes in the permanent recruitment of physicians, physician leaders and advanced practice providers for hospitals, health systems, academic medical centers and medical groups across the United States. Headquartered in Alpharetta, Ga., the company is recognized for its track record of results built on client trust and transparency of processes and fees. Jackson Physician Search is part of the Jackson Healthcare® family of companies.

About LocumTenens.com

LocumTenens.com specializes in the temporary placement of physicians, advanced practitioners and psychologists at healthcare facilities across the U.S. through onsite and telehealth services. As the industry’s most-visited job board, LocumTenens.com helps healthcare organizations connect with the medical professionals they need to ensure patients have access to quality care. Founded in 1995, LocumTenens.com is a leader in the healthcare staffing industry, helping place clinicians who deliver care to more than seven million patients in over 2,400 healthcare facilities in the U.S. LocumTenens.com is a Jackson Healthcare company. Learn more at http://www.locumtenens.com/about.

Introduction

Jackson Physician Search surveyed physicians and administrators to understand their unique views on physician issues. This survey sought to understand what efforts exist within healthcare organizations to influence better physician recruitment, engagement, retention and succession planning, and how the clinical and administrative sides perceive these efforts.

This survey follows an earlier Jackson Physician Search whitepaper, On the Verge of a Physician Turnover Epidemic: Physician Retention Survey Results.

Physician Engagement and Retention

• What is the current level of physician burnout?
• What is causing physician burnout?
• What is the current level of physician engagement?
• What is the current level of physician satisfaction with employers?
• What matters most in physician retention?
• What drives physician satisfaction with employers?

Succession Planning

• What is the current approach to physician succession planning?
• What matters most in physician succession planning?

Physician Recruitment

• How do physicians and administrators rate physician recruitment efforts?
• Where do organizations excel and/or struggle in physician recruitment?

The survey was fielded in June and July 2021. Physicians and healthcare administrators were invited to complete an approximately six-minute survey. Of more than 600 administrators and 220 physicians who participated, 430 administrators and 181 physicians completed the survey, respectively.

After qualitative interviews with several administrators and physicians, key themes emerged from the quantitative data and interviews:

• Physicians highly value two-way communication with management/administration.
• Administrators acknowledge high levels of burnout in physicians, but physicians often don’t perceive enough being done to mitigate that burnout or engage them.
• Administrators vary their approaches to succession planning, from informal and infrequent talks with physicians all the way to structured strategic planning for the coming years.
• Programs to mentor younger physicians and contingency plans for sudden physician departures are less likely to be part of a practice’s succession planning.

This whitepaper presents the full findings from hundreds of frontline healthcare leaders and clear takeaways about how administrators can work with physicians to build healthy working relationships that keep physicians engaged and communicative of their professional plans, allowing administrators to have proper time to implement effective succession plans that lead to recruiting the right physicians to sustain their practices for long-term success.

Download the White Paper to Get More Insight Into Physician Recruitment, Engagement, Retention and Succession Planning. 

For more information about how your healthcare organization can use the results of this survey to improve your physician recruitment and retention strategy, contact Jackson Physician Search today. Our team is made up of healthcare industry professionals who have spent decades recruiting physicians, physician leaders and advanced practice providers for healthcare organizations coast-to-coast.

About Jackson Physician Search

Jackson Physician Search is an established industry leader in physician recruitment and pioneered the recruitment methodologies standard in the industry today. The firm specializes in the permanent recruitment of physicians, physician leaders and advanced practice providers for hospitals, health systems, academic medical centers and medical groups across the United States. Headquartered in Alpharetta, Ga., the company is recognized for its track record of results built on client trust and transparency of processes and fees. Jackson Physician Search is part of the Jackson Healthcare® family of companies.

Introduction

Jackson Physician Search surveyed physicians and administrators to understand their views on physician retention. We set out to learn which programs were currently in place, physicians’ opinions about those programs, and how they influence physician turnover, long-term physician retention, physician engagement, and physician burnout.

We also wanted to learn the impact COVID-19 is having on physicians as it relates to their career decisions now and into the future.

Physician Retention

• Do physicians acknowledge a physician retention program exists? How do they rate its effectiveness?
• Are there formal orientation programs to help physicians transition into new positions?
• How prevalent are physician recognition programs?

Physician Engagement

• How engaged are physicians with their current employer?
• Is two-way communication between physicians and administrators effective?
• Do physicians have access to leadership training to advance their careers?

Physician Burnout

• Are administrators pioneering programs to dial back physician burnout?
• Will physicians stay with their current employer much longer?

The survey was fielded between October 2020 and November 2020. Physicians and administrators were invited to complete a brief 10 question survey. We received completed surveys from more than 485 healthcare professionals, including 400 actively practicing physicians and 86 administrators.

It comes as no surprise that COVID-19 has taken an extreme toll on physicians who were already reporting symptoms of burnout at alarming rates. After interpreting the results of the survey, a primary theme that emerged is physicians are prepared to make important decisions about their future as they seek a better quality of life and a more fulfilling career. With vaccines now being rolled out, mitigating physician burnout is critical to the long-term health and well-being of physicians, their patients, and the healthcare organizations for which they work.

As you review this white paper, you’ll find the specific questions asked, the responses received, and practical takeaways to guide you in developing or improving your physician retention program. You’ll also uncover where physicians and administrators are well-aligned, as well as key areas where improvement could prove beneficial.

Download the White Paper to Get More Insight Into Physician Retention, Physician Engagement, and Physician Burnout, as well as How COVID-19 is Affecting Their Future Career Plans. 

For more information about how your healthcare organization can use the results of this survey to improve your physician retention strategy, contact Jackson Physician Search today. Our team is made up of healthcare industry professionals who have spent decades recruiting physicians, physician leaders and advanced practice providers for healthcare organizations coast-to-coast.

About Jackson Physician Search

Jackson Physician Search is an established industry leader in physician recruitment and pioneered the recruitment methodologies standard in the industry today. The firm specializes in the permanent recruitment of physicians, physician leaders and advanced practice providers for hospitals, health systems, academic medical centers and medical groups across the United States. Headquartered in Alpharetta, Ga., the company is recognized for its track record of results built on client trust and transparency of processes and fees. Jackson Physician Search is part of the Jackson Healthcare® family of companies.

By 2020, one in three physicians will be over age 65 and approaching retirement. For hospital administrators, recruiting an experienced physician is a complicated process that takes significant time. An open position is costly in terms of lost revenue and the potential loss of both patient satisfaction and staff morale.

Given that a hospital can easily lose $150,000 per month if a specialist leaves and that a search for a medical or surgical specialist takes five to 10 months, the stakes are high. New research from Jackson Physician Search―that surveyed both practicing physicians and healthcare administrators―highlights the importance of creating the right culture and processes around physician retirement, including effective transition processes and ongoing recruiting efforts, to avoid the negatives of a vacancy or understaffing situation.

Among the key findings:

• Physicians’ drivers for retirement include lifestyle, financial stability, burnout and frustration with the current state of medicine. While physicians cited lifestyle issues (44 percent) as the most important reason driving their retirement decision, followed by financial stability (23 percent), comments from nearly 20 percent of them noted burnout and frustration with the increased focus on paperwork and patient volume as well as decreased focus on patient care.
• Physicians feel it’s their responsibility to initiate the retirement conversation, but they are less comfortable doing so than administrators. A large majority of physicians (80 percent) said it’s their responsibility to broach the subject compared with 37 percent of administrators, yet less of them (52 percent) are comfortable discussing retirement plans than administrators (74 percent).
• Physicians and administrators have vastly different opinions on what the ideal notice period is for a retirement timeline. Almost 50 percent of administrators indicated the ideal notice was one to three years, while 40 percent of physicians felt six months or less was sufficient. Also, 34 percent of physicians said they weren’t required to give any notice of retirement, while 81 percent of administrators said they were required to give more than three months.
• Administrators assume that many physicians will fully retire, but a number of them plan to work elsewhere. Almost 40 percent of administrators named full retirement as a top retirement transition method at their organization, but just 17 percent of physicians were planning to do so. In contrast, 28 percent of doctors say they will work part or full time somewhere else.

Although there is hesitancy about initiating a conversation about retirement, it is clear that both administrators and physicians feel that it’s a beneficial discussion for both parties. Differences remain on length of notice and whose responsibility it is to bring up retirement, but when handled respectfully and conducted in a non-discriminatory way, both parties can find the ideal way to transition the retirement with proper planning and processes.

Survey Methodology and Demographics

To find out how both physicians and hospital administrators approach physician retirement and transition planning, we surveyed both groups on a range of related topics. These included the age of retirement, drivers for making the decision, requirements and timeframe for giving notice, comfort with having the conversation and whose responsibility it was to initiate it. Other questions were related to the retirement transition itself and interest in employer retirement incentives.

A total of 567 physicians and surgeons from a wide range of specialties responded to the survey. Physician respondents were distributed throughout the United States, roughly based on state population. Half of them described their communities as suburban and just 15 percent noted rural. Most respondents (61 percent) were between the ages of 50 and 69, and the majority were male (71 percent).

There were 100 hospital administrator respondents to the survey, many of which were C-level executives, followed by directors and administrators in a variety of recruiting and human resources functions. The administrators were distributed across the country, but a larger proportion (40 percent) were from self-described rural communities. As with the physician respondents, most were between the ages of 50 and 69 (63 percent), although the majority of administrator respondents were female (55 percent).

Drivers for Physician Retirement

In the survey, administrators report the average age for retirement at their healthcare facility as 65, which is in line with the age of 63 as determined by analysis of U.S. Census data. Not surprisingly, physicians named lifestyle (44 percent) and financial stability (23 percent) as top drivers for retirement. Likewise, administrators also perceive lifestyle (48 percent) as a top driver, although they found health reasons (15 percent) the second most prevalent motive, which was close to three times more than what physicians cited. Administrators were also less likely to think that financial stability (14 percent) was the most common reason physicians made a retirement decision.

More than 17 percent of physicians indicated “Other” as the top reason for retirement, compared with just 10 percent of administrators. Many physicians indicated burnout and frustration with the state of medicine in the United States, as noted in the following comments:

• Managed care, whether private or government, has made the practice of medicine too adversarial to enjoy enough to consider delaying retirement.
• Medicine has turned into a quagmire of regulatory burdens, collecting data, and the destruction of physician’s autonomy and authority in individual patient care.
• Doctors are no longer able to practice medicine with the primary objective of patient well-being!!
• It has become too onerous to practice. The focus is on increasing volume with less and less pay. Also, the practices are running leaner which shifts more and more clerical work onto doctors. Add to these issues the increasing testing and “boutique” results reporting and you have a formula for high stress with diminishing satisfaction and diminished returns.

Having the Retirement Conversation

When it comes to initiating the retirement conversation, survey results show that the topic weighs more heavily on the physician, and that there is room for administrators to make the discussion more comfortable, both for the benefit of the physician and the organization. A large majority of physicians (80 percent) said it’s their responsibility to broach the retirement subject compared with 37 percent of administrators, yet less of physicians (52 percent) are comfortable discussing retirement plans than administrators (74 percent). One physician noted that “succession should always be a part of the hiring discussion and empowerment to plan and mentor over time.”

On the administrator side, almost 30 percent cited “Other” when asked whose responsibility it was to start talking about retirement. The following comments from physicians in this category indicated an acknowledgment that they had difficulty broaching the subject―and that there is a need for a more formal, yet inviting process, especially given the long lead time needed to recruit a physician:

• MDs usually initiate, but if they are having trouble, the administrator or group president will initiate the conversation.
• I believe our physicians are not very comfortable with the conversation, so we (HR) have provided them with a script and talking points to assist with these conversations.
• Ultimately, it should be the physician, but there is a hesitancy to do so. Therefore, we have tried to make it a collaborative discussion between the physician and the physician leader.
• We periodically send surveys to the physicians, asking that they let us know if they are considering retirement in the next 1 to 3 years, as the recruitment process is lengthy.
• The organization views it as the physician’s responsibility. However, as a recruiter needing lead time, I’d like a plan to approach the physicians and have administration address succession planning. I’ve been pressing for this almost five years without success.

The Realities of Giving Notice

Physicians and administrators have vastly different perspectives on what the ideal notice period is for providing a retirement timeline, a finding that might partially be explained by the lack of conversation and practices regarding retirement in general. Almost 50 percent of administrators indicated the ideal notice was one to three years, while 40 percent of physicians indicated it was 6 months or less. Also, 34 percent of physicians said they weren’t required to give any notice of retirement at all, while 81 percent of administrators said they were required to give more than three months.

When administrators were asked how much notice they typically receive when a physician plans to retire, their answers ranged from a high of three years to a low of one month, with an average of 10 months. The most common notice period cited was six months, which was in line with what physicians reported as the ideal notice period. Given the timeline for locating a physician and the fact that 40 percent of physicians thought 6 months or less was an ideal notice, administrators should consider the practice of ongoing recruitment of candidates to make sure there are no gaps in care and revenue.

The Retirement Transition

Physicians in the survey indicated some differing ideas about the retirement transition than administrators might assume, which possibly indicates they are looking for greater flexibility in their transition process. Almost 40 percent of administrators named full retirement as a top retirement transition method at their organization, but just 17 percent of physicians were planning to do so and almost 28 percent of doctors say they will work part or full time somewhere else. Some of the doctors listing “Other” planned to pursue locum tenens work or pro re nata (PRN) and telemedicine options that let them dictate their own schedules, while others looked to potentially help with recruiting, mentoring and managerial tasks at their current practice.

Many physicians (47 percent) were interested in retirement information planning services, but only half of administrators indicated those are offered. Comments from physicians indicated the vast majority of them were, not surprisingly, most interested in financial and healthcare planning. Physicians in the survey were also looking for help with the general process of retirement, along with ways to explore part-time or non-clinical options, as noted in these comments:

• There is a need for an outline and timeline of what needs to be done, as well as the contact people to facilitate the process.
• I would like to know the steps for the retirement process and how/when to transition to Medicare health coverage. I am also interested in opportunities for part-time work with the same employer, along with pay/benefit information.
• It would be helpful to know how to manage before full retirement age.
• I would like to know what part-time work is available once I retire that may or may not include clinical care.

When asked if employer-sponsored incentives would induce them to start an early retirement process, 50 percent of physicians agreed it would, with most requesting financial and/or healthcare benefits. Others were looking for part-time employment opportunities. However, nearly all administrators (95 percent) indicated they offered no incentives to initiate an earlier retirement approach so that staff planning was more seamless.

Conclusion

The survey results indicate that there is a need for more formal processes surrounding physician retirement, especially given the ongoing shortage of doctors in the United States. To help both hospitals and physicians with the retirement transition, administrators should:

• Develop non-discriminatory ways of approaching the retirement conversation. HR and physician leaders should work together to create a step-by-step process for when and how to approach the conversation, which might even occur as early as during the hiring process. Having such a process makes the physician feel less singled out for the discussion. In addition, routine surveys on retirement plans can open the lines of communication.
• Offer incentives to initiate an early retirement process. To encourage earlier notice of retirement from physicians, administrator should consider incentives like a percentage of pay for earlier notice, health benefits for a specified time period, and relief from call duties.
• Create flexible offerings like part-time or non-clinical work. For financial and other reasons, such as benefits, many physicians would like to continue working, which could ease the burden during the onboarding process for a new physician. Having a process for scheduled conversations about retirement can help prepare for a situation where several physicians retire at once, which would include extra scheduling activities and other administrative tasks. However, given the high costs of a full vacancy, these costs could easily be justified.
• Adopt a continuous recruitment process instead of treating a physician vacancy as a one-off occurrence. This will ensure that the physician candidate pipeline is full in the event that one or more physicians are transitioning to retirement. By maintaining relationships with qualified candidates, the organization is not starting at the ground floor of recruitment and can quickly adjust to unforeseen issues with retirement transitions.

With the proper planning and processes built on more open communications, hospital administrators can avoid understaffing and continue to provide the best possible patient care. Starting early in a physician’s career with these processes can make the transition and succession planning more comfortable for all parties and support more optimal recruiting efforts.