In this increasingly competitive environment, many healthcare organizations have chosen to fully outsource their physician recruitment activities. Some may have a physician recruitment department in house, but that department usually only consists of 1 or 2 people whose focus is on directing candidate activities once onsite, and orienting candidates who ultimately accept positions. Case in point: According to a recent ASPR In-House Physician Recruitment Benchmarking Report, 71% of healthcare organizations with a physician recruitment department also paid fees to search firms throughout the year. But why?
- Reduced time-to fill: In most cases, when you engage a healthcare recruitment firm to source candidates or handle the entire recruitment process, you can fill the position faster. Healthcare recruitment firms have a ready pool of active and passive candidates to start approaching as soon as they learn of the vacancy. They are devoted full-time to the search and have a plethora of resources with which to notify and attract both passive and active candidates.
- More qualified candidates: Healthcare recruitment firms pre-screen candidates according to the parameters that you set and your unique corporate culture, conduct background checks, coordinate candidate travel and itineraries, and, in some cases, negotiate the candidate’s contract on your behalf.
- Better use of internal HR resources: Within the time devoted to physician recruitment, there are 13 separate tasks ranging from sourcing research (which is estimated to take 25% of the time a staff member devotes to physician recruitment) to advertising, tele-prospecting, and more. Time and resources are at stake and search firms are experts at managing these 13 tasks to identify, screen and present candidates. While in-house physician recruiters are adept at conveying community and corporate culture benefits to candidates, they simply don’t have the time or the resources to source qualified active and passive candidates for premium recruitment efficiency and competitive advantage.
- Market knowledge: Sourcing, recruiting, negotiating…it is what these organizations do for hundreds of healthcare organizations. You benefit from the cumulative knowledge they bring to the table. From ideas for out-of-the-box incentive packages to industry-specific methods to source candidates with a very defined skillset, physician recruitment organizations give you a broad competitive advantage—just through market knowledge and experience.
Healthcare facilities utilizing physician recruitment organizations have realized that they can produce more qualified, pre-screened passive and active candidates, reduce the time-to-hire by up to 43% and enhance retention rates. Competition for top physicians is, and will remain, one of a healthcare facility’s chief operating concerns. At a time when budget line items are scrutinized, it is imperative to realize that in-house recruitment teams don’t have the resources to identify a wide variety of top-tier candidates or the time to facilitate an efficacious recruitment process. Prudent organizations will proactively assess current recruitment functions and options to ensure resources are maximized and the return on investment is realized for competitive advantages.
