Physician shortage continues to impact time to fill positions; number of searches per organization continue to rise

Recently released industry research cites trends

With the changing healthcare landscape and the shortage of physicians, recruitment and retention at every level – from specialties such as Nephrology, Rheumatology, Ophthalmology, Surgical Pediatrics and Genetics – to family medicine practitioners, continues to be a challenge facing healthcare systems and physician practices. This is according to the recently released benchmark study from the Association of Staff Physician Recruiters (ASPR) whose members are the leading authorities in the physician and provider recruitment to retention continuum.

Nearly 20% of ASPR members participated in the extensive annual study. Other key findings from the just released 2018 In-House Physician Recruitment Benchmarking Report:

• Locum tenens physicians are increasingly relied upon to provide supplemental coverage due to the overall shortage and the increased time to fill certain positions;

• Physician turnover in rural communities is on the rise; turnover elsewhere declined; non-physician providers realized a marginal increase in turnover in the past year;

• Over 70% of participating organizations last year were searching for a Family Medicine physician, followed by Hospital Medicine, Internal Medicine and Neurology, all over 50%;

• Not surprisingly, Neurology had the highest days to fill (211 days); Family Medicine and Internal Medicine searches, for the typical sized health system required six months to fill;

• Having adequate support staff and an applicant tracking system were both factors associated with fewer days to fill overall;
• Organizations with over 50 physician and provider searches per year managed by its in-house team typically have five staff including one or more in support staff roles. This compares to two staff which has been the typical size of in-house staff for several years.

“The physician and provider shortages are real, and continue,” said Frank Gallagher, ASPR Board President. “As physician recruitment and retention specialists, our members are being asked to do more while staff sizes remain constant.” The Association of Staff Physician Recruiters (ASPR) is a professional organization comprised of nearly 1,800 members focused solely on advancing in-house physician and provider recruitment professionals. ASPR is the leading authority on physician/provider recruitment and retention.

The complete 2018 In-house Physician Recruitment Benchmarking Report is available to member organizations for $399. To order, please email info@aspr.org or visit https://www.aspr.org/page/Benchmarking.

Learn more about the Association for Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment at www.aappr.org.

For more information, contact Carey Goryl, CEO | 800.830.2777 | cgoryl@aappr.org