The healthcare landscape is shifting more dramatically right now than it has since its inception. As an increasing number of healthcare organizations move to models of accountable care, the overall healthcare experience will transform, including the physician experience and the methods we use to recruit healthcare providers.
How will population health management affect physicians?
Monumentally. The primary care practice of the future will look much different than it does today. Instead of one-on-one encounters between the patient and their provider, the patient interaction process will include phone visits, email consultations, group visits, educational programs, and encounters with a variety of care team members. Out-of-office contact will become the new norm as patient health improves. Additionally, PCPs will be the leaders of the care teams, managing multiple providers and resources. Thus, PCPs of the future must exhibit leadership and interpersonal skills, as well as a passion for top-tier service delivery. How well they manage the team will directly translate to how well the health of their patient population is being managed, which will directly impact future compensation models.
How will population health management affect recruitment?
The current shortage of PCPs will continue to increase; as population health management becomes the dominant healthcare model, demand for care team leaders—the PCPs—will be at unprecedented levels. The expanding role of the clinical care team may reduce the need for some physician specialties. Demand will change based on care team utilization, payer coverage, current and anticipated market share, and population demographic profile including aging and ethnicity.
PCP recruitment techniques will shift, as well. As physicians continue to leave the private practice model in favor of employed physician models, cultural fit within an organization will become a key recruitment parameter. In addition, PCPs will be recruited based on their ability to build consensus, manage teams, and lead a diverse care team to better patient health. Organizations must understand what physicians are looking for clinically, financially, and administratively to ensure they are a fit with their organization. Physicians who embrace the care team model, understand how to utilize advanced practice providers, and enjoy leadership opportunities will be in high demand. In addition, recruits must understand new incentive and reimbursement structures. Physicians will be rewarded for meeting care management needs of patients; reimbursement will be tied to quality as opposed to quantity.
With an emphasis on proactive preventative care, evidence-based protocols, managed care teams, care coordination, and multidisciplinary teams, population health management will reward value in care, versus volume of patients seen. Within the healthcare transformation, we will see an altered patient and physician experience, not to mention new recruitment benchmarks and standards.
