The Association for Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment (AAPPR) is redefining recruitment to retention and is the only professional organization where physician and provider recruitment leaders and others who influence recruitment, onboarding and retention can connect, learn and advance their careers.
While Mental Health Awareness Month is behind us, the importance of mental health and wellness is a year-round priority. When it comes to mental health in physician and provider recruitment, one of the main challenges is burnout, which can have extensive effects on everyone in the healthcare community, from clinical staff to recruitment professionals.
At AAPPR’s 2024 Annual Conference, Advancing Connections, members Jennifer Scherer, CPRP and Becky Trujillo, CPRP dove into “Navigating Burnout in Physician Recruitment” and the impact burnout has on the healthcare community. According to a recent American Medical Association survey, more than 50% of physicians across nearly all experience levels feel at least one symptom of burnout while those who are 6-10 years post-residency are the group most likely to feel burnt out. However, this is not only an issue among clinical staff. In physician and provider recruitment, more than 50% of professionals experience symptoms.
What Does Burnout Look Like?
Contrary to popular belief, burnout is not just stress. Stress is a response to a perceived threat, while burnout is a state of physical, mental and emotional exhaustion caused by prolonged and excessive stress and can occur both in the workplace and in personal lives. The causes and symptoms of burnout are wide ranging and can be difficult to pinpoint unless you are intentionally looking for them. If you’re experiencing lack of energy and trouble sleeping along with physical symptoms, such as stomach issues, muscle tension and headaches, you may need to ask yourself if you’re feeling burnt out.
Why is Burnout so Common in Recruitment?
The significant and continuing physician shortage in the United States is expected to increase in the coming years, placing high demand on recruitment professionals. Recruitment teams are pressured to do more with less and face a range of factors outside of their control, from organizational decision-making processes to candidates opting for competing positions. All that to say, it’s very likely these conditions can cause prolonged and excessive stress to the employees in the work environment, which can eventually lead to burnout.
How to Effectively Manage Burnout
Many healthcare organizations and recruitment departments stress how important their teams’ mental health is. While wellness programs can be a key component of a recruitment strategy for retention, recruitment professionals should also “practice what they preach” and prioritize their own wellness.
Recruitment professionals can do this by setting boundaries with their time. A 2023 study from Pew Research Center found that more than half of workers (55%) respond to work emails or other work-related messages outside of their normal hours. While there will always be work to do, it’s important to utilize weekend and evening time for rest and things that you enjoy. This will leave you more refreshed and effective when you return to the office.
In the presentation from Advancing Connections, Jennifer and Becky also suggest setting priorities and sticking to a schedule to better own your time. For instance, spend the morning hours prioritizing sourcing and answering emails, during the lunch hour set aside time to journal or walk and talk to colleagues, and be sure to find time in between work tasks to take a break, even if it’s just for five minutes.
When recruitment professionals prioritize their own mental wellbeing, they are more able to give their full attention and effort to developing and executing successful strategies for potential and current team members.
Recruitment professionals play a vital role in the healthcare community. They help improve access to care, attract and retain staff to improve their healthcare systems and provide opportunities for physicians that fit their needs. However, when we are burnt out, it’s almost impossible to perform to the best of our ability. Prioritizing your own mental health and organizing your time can help you bring your best self to work while helping others find the care and careers they need.
In healthcare, bias can ultimately affect life and death decisions for patients. While artificial intelligence (AI) can help recruitment professionals streamline hiring processes, it must be used responsibly and with health equity in mind. At the recent SHRM Inclusion conference, Tamiko Stanley, Chief Diversity officer & Managing Partner of Elite Executive Strategies and Liz Mahan, AAPPR Director of Professional Development & Solutions, shared their insights on recruitment professionals’ roles in advancing health equity and how they can find a balance between human connection and AI for a more equitable healthcare system.
A diverse workforce in healthcare institutions is essential for addressing the unique needs and experiences of different patient populations and promoting cultural competence in care delivery. Diverse organizations are better positioned to grow, innovate, and to advance along with ever-evolving healthcare demands and emerging medical conditions.
The impact of a representative clinical workforce is significant. In fact, the most diverse organizations are the most successful ones. According to McKinsey, companies in the top quartile for ethnic diversity show an average 27% financial advantage over others, and companies with representation of women exceeding 30% are significantly more likely to financially outperform those with 30% or fewer.
In healthcare, a diverse workforce can improve patient experiences and health outcomes and foster a culture of respect and collaboration. Data shows that there is a significant equity gap in both access to care and quality of care. For example, Black patients received lower quality care than White patients for about 40% of health equity measures in most recent studies. Recruitment professionals have a significant role to play in addressing these disparities by developing a diverse workforce within their organization.
Building a diverse healthcare system starts with recruitment professionals, their strategies and their processes. Technology can’t replace people, or the soft skills needed for healthcare. It’s up to recruitment professionals to find the right people with the soft skills needed to build a workforce that truly represents the diversity of their community.
Recruitment professionals can do this by providing clear paths for career advancement to all employees, establishing a reputation for genuinely supporting diversity as well as building strong connections – not only within the organization but in the broader community as well. Other powerful ways to attract diverse talent include developing diverse and inclusive sourcing and screening strategies, being an active advocate for proactive recruitment and retention strategies and understanding your candidate through active listening and asking the right questions.
Although AI comes with some challenges, it also has some benefits when used responsibly. It can help physician and provider recruitment professionals streamline the hiring process through resume screening, candidate matching, predictive analytics, automated scheduling and more.
To use AI responsibly and avoid bias, recruitment professionals should:
Teaching AI how to be human is an impossible task, so it’s essential you incorporate AI into your organization responsibly, using it to supplement, rather than to replace, human expertise and intentionality.
Effective DEI is heavily rooted in intentionality. As long as your organization prioritizes DEI in all aspects and incorporates AI in responsible ways, you are on the right path to ensuring equity for any patient that walks through your doors. Because after all, healthcare is all about humanity. To grow in your DEI journey and become aware of your own bias, check out AAPPR’s DEI Virtual Resource Center and DEI Micro-Certification. This topic will also be one of the sessions at the 2025 Annual Conference, Advancing Connections, in Phoenix, Arizona. Registration opens Dec. 3, so be sure to secure your spot for the opportunity to hear from and network with industry professionals.
The Association for Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment (AAPPR), has released its annual Internal Physician and Provider Recruitment Benchmarking Report, highlighting search dynamics and trends within physician and provider recruitment and their impact on recruiting and hiring in health care. AAPPR’s research identifies the critical variables that affect search success rates and time-to-fill metrics. The report found that for the first time in five years, the percentage of filled searches increased.
The report, which provides industry data to help inform health organizations’ workforce planning and growth management, also found that the number of active physician searches for organizations per year continues to increase. Advanced practice provider (APP) searches also continue to increase as the physician shortage grows, and make up more than half of all searches per department. At the same time, the number of recruitment staff decreased for the first time since 2020, and nearly one in five recruiters left their positions in 2023.
“For the first time in five years, we’re seeing an increase in successful physician searches – a testament to our recruitment professionals’ resilience amid an ongoing physician shortage,” said Carey Goryl, CEO of AAPPR. “Our data clearly shows that properly staffed and resourced recruitment teams reduce time-to-fill, yet high turnover and fewer recruiters in the field pose significant challenges to healthcare organizations’ ability to secure talent and maintain quality patient care. We must invest in recruitment professionals and adapt our strategies, as they are crucial to our health care system’s success.”
Nearly 150 member health organizations of AAPPR, the leading authority on physician recruitment, onboarding and retention, participated in the extensive annual research study representing more than 17,000 searches, 58% of which were specific to physicians.
Additional notable report findings include:
The industry-level data in AAPPR’s Benchmarking Report helps recruitment professionals and departments prepare, plan and forecast to meet the challenges of an evolving healthcare landscape where every unfilled position directly impacts patient care delivery. This report consists of two chapters representing different type of survey results, one regarding compensation and one regarding searches.
Organizations that participate in the annual survey gain free access to AAPPR’s benchmarking portal, where they can run custom benchmark comparisons to other organizations and departments similar to their own. The benchmarking portal includes time to fill and compensation calculators and enables users to compare a range of data, including organizational profiles, search information, recruiter profile data, and recruiter compensation figures, helping them make more informed decisions.
The complete 2024 AAPPR Internal Physician and Provider Recruitment Benchmarking Report is available to organizations for sale online. To order, visit https://aappr.org/research/benchmarking/.
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.
With the ongoing national physician shortage, physician and provider recruitment professionals are well aware of how it will continue to impact the workforce. The American Association of Medical Colleges projects a national shortfall of anywhere between 37,000 to more than 100,000 physicians over the next decade, meaning effective recruitment strategies are extremely vital to healthcare systems’ ability to provide quality care to future patients. As the search for talent becomes increasingly competitive and challenging, first impressions are critical, and this often comes in the form of a job posting.
What do physicians want?
At AAPPR’s annual conference, Advancing Connections, Jacob Simon of The Medicus Firm shared valuable insights on physician preferences and the type of information that affects their career decisions.
According to the firm, the top three motivating factors for both physicians and APPs to make a career change are work/life balance, compensation and location. Another common factor that motivates physicians – especially those early in their career – is the opportunity to grow within an organization. Recruitment professionals should consider these motivating factors within recruitment and retention strategies.
Five things to include in a job posting
It’s important to prioritize physicians’ motivating factors when considering the details to include in a job posting. To catch candidates’ eye and gain their interest in an opportunity, job postings should be transparent and include the following:
There is an immense amount of competition for talent in the healthcare community. Recruitment professionals need to put their best foot forward in job postings in order to grab candidates’ attention and support them in taking the next step in their career.
By aligning job posting details with physicians’ interests, recruitment professionals can not only attract high-quality candidates, but ensure that candidates are well-informed in their decision to apply to organizations that align with their own unique needs and values.
Recruitment is a fast-paced industry. Especially healthcare recruitment where there is a shortage in supply of candidates while the demand is extremely high. Healthcare recruiters often have no choice but to answer that physician candidate after 6pm or on a Saturday when the candidate is finally free from patient care. Never mind recruiters have a family of their own and well deserved precious personal time to enjoy.
This is why it is so important for all of us to work on Self-Care.
Remember, self-care is not selfish; it’s essential for your long-term well-being and success as a recruiter. By prioritizing your physical and mental health, you’ll be better equipped to handle the demands of your job and achieve greater job satisfaction.
Survey shows high satisfaction with work-life balance, while average salary reaches four-year low
The Association for Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment (AAPPR) has released its 2024 Recruitment Team Professional Compensation Benchmarking Report, highlighting detailed profile and compensation information on internal physician and provider recruitment professionals.
Among key findings in the report, nearly three quarters of recruitment professionals are somewhat or completely satisfied with their current position and role, and 70 percent reported “Good” or “Excellent” work/life balance. However, respondents’ satisfaction with their compensation decreased from 67 percent in 2019 to 55 percent in 2023.
“The benchmarking data shows that while flexibility and work/life balance are improving in the recruitment profession, workplace stress is still high across the board and compensation remains unsatisfactory for many in our field,” said Carey Goryl, CEO of AAPPR. “The average salary in this year’s report is the lowest since 2019 and down 4 percent since last year. Amid the national physician shortage, we need to ensure that organizations recognize recruitment professionals’ important and challenging work, and their contributions to organizations’ ability to deliver quality care in their communities.”
The report includes two chapters highlighting survey results related to physician recruitment profiles and compensation levels. The first chapter, “Internal Physician and Provider Recruiter Profile Statistics,” provides data on demographic information, including recruitment professionals’ roles, education levels and responsibilities. A total of 545 physician recruitment professionals from 104 organizations participated in this survey.
The second chapter, “Internal Physician and Provider Recruiter Compensation,” examines compensation levels of recruitment professionals by their role, experience, education level, etc. This survey had participation from 95 organizations and collected data from 476 recruiters.
Some notable findings include:
The industry-level data in AAPPR’s benchmarking surveys helps recruitment professionals and departments establish target productivity levels, set goals and expectations and grow their teams.
Organizations that participated in the annual survey received a complimentary copy of the report and free access to AAPPR’s Benchmarking Portal, enabling them to run custom benchmark comparisons against similar organizations and departments. The Benchmarking Portal includes time to fill and compensation calculators and enables users to compare a range of data, including organizational profiles, search information, recruiter profile data, and recruiter compensation figures, helping them make more informed decisions.
The complete AAPPR 2024 Recruitment Team Professional Compensation Benchmarking Report is available for purchase at https://aappr.org/research/benchmarking/.
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.
Along with the evolution of healthcare, the needs of the physician and provider workforce are quickly changing due to generational differences, a need to address high burnout rates and the ongoing physician shortage.
In fact, AAPPR research shows that 28% of physicians who resigned from large healthcare organizations (those with 1,000 or more providers) in 2021 cited burnout as a primary driver for their decision.
The future physician workforce places a premium on flexible hours, work-life balance, and integrated technologies that enhance their day-to-day efficiency and quality of care. With these evolving needs in mind, healthcare systems must adapt to and accommodate physicians’ priorities to remain competitive and bring high quality and effective care to patients.
AAPPR CEO Carey Goryl recently moderated a panel of board members Allan Cacanindin and Marjorie Alexander, and JT Thoms, National Account Executive at Jackson and Coker LocumTenens, to discuss the critical connection between technology and the evolution of the physician landscape at the HIMSS 2024 Annual Conference. The industry experts shared their advice for how recruitment professionals can stay ahead of the curve as the industry faces increasing hurdles. Here are our key takeaways:
Burnout among current staff can be detrimental to a workforce that’s already experiencing a significant shortage. That’s why improving flexibility and providing candidates and current employees with the work-life balance they are consistently craving is so important. To do this, organizations should adopt technology that actively monitors the times physicians are entering their notes into EHR platforms and flagging providers who routinely enter notes after hours. This practice gives leaders a better understanding of team members consistently working outside of their normal hours, so they can then lend support if needed to ensure all providers are able to finish their workday by 5 p.m. Small changes like this can be instrumental in ensuring physicians have greater work-life balance and helping to reduce burnout.
While not necessarily technologically innovative, we can’t overstate the importance of talking to the people who are choosing to stay at your organization. To understand physician needs, current burnout levels and ultimately reduce turnover, leaders should regularly conduct stay interviews with their employees. These interviews can be held by leaders who do not directly manage the provider, with the objectives of monitoring wellbeing, identifying positive and negative feedback from providers and creating an open dialogue to ensure needs and concerns are discussed before they result in a resignation. Most importantly, leaders and recruitment professionals should be sure to track the data that is collected during these stay interviews and implement findings in a way that continues to support the needs of your organization’s workforce.
A common cause of burnout among physicians and providers is the level of manual administrative work required every day. Technology, from AI and telehealth to smartphone applications that make physicians’ work easier, have the potential to reduce burnout, increase physician efficiency and align with the preferences of younger physicians who are accustomed to using technology in their everyday lives. Not only can technology help physicians streamline their everyday practices and spend time where it matters the most, but an increasing use of technology will also become critical across recruitment operations. Implementing the right technologies at your organization can support faster processes, identify rates of provider productivity and create efficient pathways for solution planning to evolve your clinical workforce strategies.
The United States could see a physician shortage of between 37,800 – 124,000 physicians by 2034, according to data published by the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges). This drastic shortage, plus the evolving landscape of existing physicians’ expectations and needs, are challenging physician and provider recruiters to innovate like never before. With a decreasing number of physicians serving an increasing need for healthcare, recruitment professionals must look to adopt new ways to meet clinicians’ evolving needs so they can continue to best serve patients.
Every person has a different approach to listening, learning, and working. Having different thought processes, different backgrounds, and different ways of communicating is essential in the workplace. When we talk about diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace, many people immediately think about diversity in race, age, or gender. Today, I would like to talk about diversity in thought and information processing and how to make sure we are inclusive to everyone.
For the first 17 years of my life, I did not know that I had ADHD. I knew that I was not like all my classmates and teammates and that I processed information differently. However, I thought it was my fault and that I just needed to try harder. At the time, people were not aware of how ADHD can present in various ways, so it was assumed that I did not have it. After receiving my diagnosis, I panicked and thought my dreams might be unreachable because of it. Over the next few months, I learned more about how people receive and process information, as well as how these differences can lead to some amazing successes in life. There are amazing people who have had success and are navigating the world with ADHD, such as Simone Biles, Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, Michael Jordan, and more.
There are barriers to achieving this success and actions we take each day can make it easier for people to overcome those barriers. It is important to remember that when you are communicating with others, you may be giving them the same message, but it may need to be delivered differently. Clear and personalized communication benefits everyone, especially those who may be neurodiverse.
Some strategies to clarify your communication and help accommodate the neurodiverse population include:
1. Reflect on the appropriate method of communication. There are multiple methods of communication, and while a text message might be great for one person, a meeting might be better for another. People feel supported and heard if you ask what their preferred method of communication is.
2. Identify your purpose or call to action. With this communication, what are you trying to accomplish? Is it informative or is there a task that needs to be completed? Clearly identifying the call to action or purpose and highlighting that early in the communication can help people know what to keep in mind when reviewing the information.
3. Provide written deadlines and expectations. Even if you initially have a phone conversation with someone, following up with written deadlines, expectations, and instructions can help ensure that everyone is working towards the same goal and timeline.
4. Reduce stigma. Many people with ADHD struggle with whether they should disclose their diagnosis in the workplace out of fear it could lead to stigma and discrimination. You can work to promote a sense of inclusivity and openness within your workplace.
It is essential as working professionals, but also as those in healthcare and recruitment, that we increase our inclusivity and promote diversity in thought.
In the busy summer season for Physician Recruitment, it’s crucial to find a balance between productivity and well-being. Work-life balance is not just a trendy term; it’s essential for maintaining high performance and preventing burnout in this fast-paced industry. Here are some effective strategies for maintaining balance, boosting productivity, and promoting resilience during this important time:
First, make sure to discuss the expectations with leadership about the summer recruitment season. Keep senior management updated on market conditions and the need to promptly respond to candidate inquiries. Emphasize the importance of setting clear hiring goals to make decision-making processes more efficient and ensure timely engagement with candidates.
Review your recruitment workflows regularly to identify any bottlenecks and inefficiencies. It’s important to note that summer vacations can disrupt timelines, so it’s a good idea to implement strategies to maintain momentum during this time. Consider utilizing analytics from recruitment platforms such as PracticeLink and Doximity to optimize your job postings and outreach efforts. These tools can provide valuable insights into candidate preferences and market trends, giving you a competitive edge in recruitment.
Remember to fully embrace technology tools to increase productivity and streamline recruitment processes. Automated scheduling tools for emails and texts enable seamless communication, even when team members are unavailable. Platforms like PracticeMatch provide comprehensive data analytics to refine recruitment strategies and effectively target specific candidate demographics.
Maintain ongoing communication with past recruits to gather feedback on their experience and insights into workplace dynamics. Use these conversations to assess retention factors and identify areas for improvement. Building strong relationships fosters trust and loyalty, enhancing the organization’s reputation and attractiveness to prospective candidates.
Encourage team members to prioritize mental health by scheduling regular breaks and engaging in activities that promote relaxation and rejuvenation. Incorporate mindfulness practices into daily routines to alleviate stress and maintain focus. A refreshed mind contributes to sharper decision-making and sustained productivity throughout the recruitment process.
It’s crucial to acknowledge the significance of balance and resilience in retaining talent within the competitive physician recruitment industry. Organizations can reduce turnover rates and ensure long-term success by giving priority to employee well-being and operational efficiency. Investing in professional development and creating supportive work environments enhances employee engagement and organizational resilience.
As we dive into the summer recruitment season, it’s important to approach it with a good balance of productivity and well-being. To make the most of this season, recruitment professionals can focus on open communication with leadership, streamlining processes, making the most of technology, nurturing relationships, prioritizing mental well-being, and building long-term resilience. These strategies will help us achieve our goals while also taking care of ourselves.
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) play an important role in healthcare providers’ ability to deliver care that meets their communities’ needs. Building a diverse healthcare system starts with the provider recruitment professionals, their strategies and their processes. With DE&I embedded in workforce strategies, recruitment professionals can help foster more inclusive, representative hiring practices and ultimately, clinical staffs that are more reflective of the communities they serve.
While the ever-changing recruitment landscape requires continuously evolving tactics, these four practices act as a crucial foundation for sourcing, screening and hiring diverse candidates into the workplace.
Building a diverse healthcare system isn’t possible without developing diverse and inclusive sourcing and screening strategies. First, it’s important to evaluate your current recruitment strategies, such as where positions are posted and how positions are being promoted, to understand what’s working well and which methods can be improved. By implementing a diverse and inclusive mix of sourcing channels and an equitable screening process, you’ll be able to reach a wider variety of backgrounds and experiences, adding diversity to the candidates you’re interviewing as well as a broader set of skills and knowledge.
Active listening is a crucial aspect of the recruitment process. One of the first questions you should ask during the conversation should be about the candidate’s motivators, their interests and what is important to them – both professionally and personally. The answers to these questions will allow you to better understand your candidate and how they fit into your community and the organization. It will also help recognize potential barriers as well as any implicit and unconscious bias types. It’s important to hire individuals that recognize the significance of DE&I and ones that will prioritize these practices within their workplace.
Part of leadership’s role is to coach internal hiring authorities and recruitment professionals on inclusion and diversity policies within the healthcare industry. However, it’s also important for provider recruitment professionals to put in time outside of the workplace to stay up to date on DE&I industry standards and best practices through opportunities like conferences, memberships and certifications.
Professional certifications can give recruitment professionals added credibility within their organizations and the expertise to create more effective strategies. Certifications typically represent a higher level of expertise and require meeting specific standards, often set by professional associations (such as AAPPR). Typically, certifications require continuing education to maintain the certification and require those who hold the certification to periodically renew it.
In April 2022, AAPPR launched the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Micro Certification Course, specifically to help recruitment professionals advance their DE&I strategies. This advanced certification for those already holding a current CPRP certification provides recruiters with tools they need to create a more diverse and inclusive environment within their respective organizations.
Recruitment professionals have the opportunity to help shape the future of healthcare and advance diversity and inclusion within our community. With a national physician shortage continuing to create challenges in recruitment, it’s crucial to invest in building a diverse healthcare system, and these four approaches are a great first step in doing so.
If you’re an AAPPR member, our organization offers various resources to support your recruitment strategies, and if you’re not an AAPPR member, you can become one today by visiting https://aappr.org/join-now/.
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