Special Physician Search Strategy
Training starts August 13
Next week, Peter Stanos Associates will start a concentrated training curriculum, designed to take advantage of a recent trend in the recruitment of physicians.
As PSA referenced in a recent post, reports indicate that small private practice groups (1-5 physicians) no longer have an economically feasible business model. At the same time, hospitals and larger groups want to absorb these physicians (i.e. hire them) to promote their own growth.
Problem is, not all solo physicians and small practices have thrown in the towel. It is daunting for these larger employers to target, contact and convince physicians to leave the practice they own.
Dr. Stanos and some of our established Partners have developed a highly effective system for exploiting this trend. It includes a defined strategy for contracting with hospitals, healthcare systems and larger practice groups to recruit the docs they want, along with a proven method of locating and securing the desired physicians.
PSA Partners participating in this special group benefit from having physician search assignments to work and initial training that positions them to capitalize on this trend.
“What a lot of people don’t realize is that when you can produce physicians for a hospital or physician group, you somewhat have it made,” states Dr. Peter Stanos, the president of PSA. “All revenue within healthcare starts with a doctor and successfully recruiting docs for a client puts you in a great position to get other business from the facility.”
There is a similar benefit in placing “physician extenders” with the physicians that a Partner’s recruiting team talks to. These are Nurse Practitioners and Physician’s Assistants who can do much of what a doctor does and they are increasingly sought after.
The special physician search training that starts August 13th will also position new Partners to pick up Nurse Practitioner search business as well.
If interested in learning more about becoming a PSA Partner, here are some steps you can take:
- Read about becoming a PSA Partner
- Download the PSA Partner Briefing
- Watch video interviews with Dr. Peter Stanos
- Call us with questions at 800-965-1620
If you have ongoing interest we have an interview process we ask every Partner to go through that includes speaking with existing Partners and with Dr. Stanos.
An article last week in the New York Times should get your attention.
It focuses on the physician shortages that exist now and how much, much worse access to care will be going forward.
For instance, in Southern California the ACA (Affordable Care Act) will extend insurance coverage to 300,000 more people by 2014. As indicated in the article, local health experts say there won’t be enough doctors to meet the area’s needs, because there are not enough now.
In fact, the Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that in 2015 the country will have 62,900 fewer doctors than needed. That will more than double by 2025, as the expansion of insurance coverage and the aging of baby boomers drive up demand for care. Even without the health care law, the shortfall of doctors in 2025 would still exceed 100,000.
Here are some numbers to consider referenced in the article:
The ACA will take full effect in 2014, extending coverage to about 30 million Americans.
It takes 10 years to train a physician.
The US has shortages of every kind of doctor, except plastic surgeons and dermatologists.
A government council recommends that a given region have 60 to 80 primary care doctors per 100,000 residents, and 85 to 105 specialists.
Less than 50% of primary care clinicians were accepting new Medicaid patients as of 2008.
The expansion of Medicaid accounts for more than one-third of the overall growth in coverage from the ACA.
Across the country, a factor increasing demand, along with expansion of coverage in the law and simple population growth, is the aging of the baby boom generation. Medicare officials predict that enrollment will surge to 73.2 million in 2025, up 44 percent from 50.7 million this year.
A third of the country’s doctors are 55 or older, and nearing retirement.
The proportion of medical students choosing to enter primary care has declined in the past 15 years, as average earnings for primary care doctors and specialists, like orthopedic surgeons and radiologists, have diverged. A study by the Medical Group Management Association found that in 2010, primary care doctors made about $200,000 a year. Specialists often made twice as much.
The health care law increases Medicaid’s primary care payment rates in 2013 and 2014. It also includes money to train new primary care doctors, reward them for working in underserved communities and strengthen community health centers.
Provisions in the ACA are expected to increase the number of primary care doctors by perhaps 3,000 in the coming decade. Communities around the country need about 45,000 now.