May 5, 2023 (Okemos, Mich.) – The Association for Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment (AAPPR), the nation’s leading authority on physician recruitment, onboarding and retention, has released its Recruitment Process Report.

The report, which is based on a survey of 241 internal physician and provider recruitment professionals, highlights trends in how health care organizations manage the sourcing, interviewing and onboarding process for physicians and providers. The Recruitment Process Survey is the eighth form in a series of Specialized Surveys published by AAPPR, highlighting the advantages of a specialized in-house team of recruitment professionals.

While health care organizations have found success and cost efficiencies through utilizing and empowering their in-house physician and provider recruitment teams, approximately one third of respondents across organizations of all sizes indicated that the recruitment department is not involved in medical staff workforce or service line planning. By including recruitment teams in these types of planning, organizations have an opportunity to improve long-term stability and vertical communication.

Incorporating recruitment teams into strategic planning becomes especially important in organizations that cannot afford a gap in service during a physician candidate search. The report found that while 60.2% of organizations received a signed contract from a physician candidate within two weeks of an offer, physicians’ start dates are an average of 120 days after accepting the position. This is largely due to the credentialing and privileging process, which takes between one and three months for the majority of participating organizations.

“The need for efficiency in the recruitment and onboarding process is becoming increasingly important for health care organizations as more physicians reach retirement age,” said Carey Goryl, CEO of AAPPR. “In-house recruitment teams have unique expertise on the most effective recruiting, onboarding and retention processes and can play an important role when involved in organizational workforce planning. However, in many cases, these teams are underutilized.”

The Recruitment Process Report provides benchmarks on internal recruitment processes, enabling health care organizations to self-assess and self-correct elements within their control. The organizations with the most successful physician and provider recruitment programs are those who work collaboratively with clear communication, role clarity, and measurements of success.

While internal recruitment teams often have the responsibility to fill positions with quality candidates faster than ever, these professionals do not work in isolation from the rest of their organization. Data in the report provides insights on broader improvements that can be made to address common challenges facing recruitment professionals, such as the ongoing workforce shortage, provider maldistribution and ongoing malaise and burnout among physicians and recruitment professionals.

The full Recruitment Process Report is available for purchase here.

About The Association for Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment (AAPPR) 
The Association for Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment (AAPPR) is a nationally recognized leader in health care provider recruitment, onboarding, and retention. For more than 30 years, AAPPR has empowered physician and advanced practice provider recruitment leaders to transform care delivery in their communities by providing best-in-class practices, up-to-date industry knowledge, and evolving innovative approaches for hiring, onboarding, and retaining exceptional clinical talent. To learn more or to become an organizational member of AAPPR, please visit https://aappr.org/join-now/.