5 Steps to Grow Your Physician Onboarding Program
When adding new physicians, it’s pivotal to your team’s growth strategy that you’re as successful as a recruiter. This success depends on you hitting key recruitment and retention benchmarks. Without a structured physician onboarding program, your organization’s growth, quality, and financial performance can suffer due to unplanned attrition.
It’s common for hospitals and clinics to say they have implemented some type of onboarding program in the last decade. The majority of plans, however, focus on credentialing and the provider’s first 90 days. Most also say the activities included in their plan are not necessarily tracked. As a result, they are still struggling to keep key placements consistently filled.
These teams are not alone. According to retention surveys collected by groups like Cejka Search and the American Medical Group Association (AMGA), medical groups average 7% turnover. And, it is not unusual for a hospital to lose half of the physicians it recruits over 5 years.
Weigh the Costs
Consider how much time and money your organization spends to recruit and hire a single physician. Add to that the cost of guaranteeing that provider’s salary for the first 6-12 months while they’re building their practice. Next, consider the loss of revenue (i.e. diagnostic, procedural, referrals) if that same provider leaves and creates an unfilled position in your market.
These numbers can add up quickly. However, they don’t account for the potential backward slide in strategy and/or market position that may also follow a key provider’s departure.
Results-Based Physician Onboarding Program
Physician onboarding is more than a cheerful “welcome aboard”. It’s understanding your organization’s specific challenges related to retaining quality providers. Then, assigning key players to successfully address these challenges through a results-based onboarding plan. Organizations that do this well are systematic and accountable in their onboarding. They increase new provider satisfaction, retention, and productivity while building system revenue and market share.
Follow these 5 steps to achieve a results-based onboarding program:
1. Identify & maximize critical touch-points.
New physicians often report experiencing a “disconnect” between the time they sign on the dotted line and when they join the community. This disconnect, coupled with the stress of relocating and establishing a new practice, can contribute to physician attrition.
By taking the time to map out critical touch points within your organization’s relationship with new providers, you can better understand potential gaps that can prevent this disconnect. Effectively bridge the gap between recruitment and full integration into the community.
Key touch-points include:
- Recruitment: The initial touch point in establishing a relationship with new physicians
- Relocation: Vital in easing the transition for new physicians & their families
- Credentialing: Ensure new providers are properly licensed & qualified to practice within the organization
- Orientation & practice integration: Familiarize new physicians with organizational policies, procedures, & culture
- System integration: Introduce new providers to technology used within the organization
- Practice development: Support the development & launch of new physician practices
- Community integration: Create networking opportunities for the new physician & their family
2. Remove barriers to growth.
During the recruitment phase, and the conversations that follow, it is important to be sure that new physicians are aware of your strategic goals and how their practices and service lines fit into your organizational plan. This not only helps align their expectations but also fosters a sense of purpose and belonging within the team. This can be a critical component for creating lasting partnerships.
It is essential to understand and set clear expectations on both sides up front. This includes outlining equipment needs, staff support, expected productivity levels, and any other key requirements. It is also helpful to be upfront about the political dynamics they may need to navigate to be successful. By providing clarity on expectations and goals right from the start, you can set up your new physicians for success and empower them to make meaningful contributions towards achieving your organizational objectives.
3. Plant seeds for growth via strategic connections.
An essential part of the provider onboarding process is creating opportunities for new physicians to build key relationships within the first 100 days – inside their practice, the system, and the community.
Ask these questions:
- What field intelligence & internal or external data do we have to identify the operational leaders & referral partners physicians will depend on most to care for patients successfully?
- What touch points can we build into our provider onboarding process to ensure that these connections are not only made but nurtured early on in their practice launch?
Action items can include:
- Schedule introductory meetings between new physicians & key department managers
- Identify a specific mentor for each new physician — ask the mentor to be available by phone & make monthly drop-by visits to the physician to provide reinforcement & positive feedback
- Ensure the new physicians’ calendar includes pertinent medical staff meetings & networking opportunities scheduled throughout the next 12 months
- Spend a day with the doctor, introducing them to hospital-based physicians within your facility
- Make your medical staff aware 1 week before the new physician’s official practice opening that they are now accepting patients
- Coordinate a reception at the hospital or the physician’s new practice & invite staff members to attend
4. Help the physician & family grow roots.
Medical staff development surveys show that 85% of the time the family influences a physician’s decision to relocate. To help ensure the family develops strong roots in their new community, it is important to create networking opportunities so those relocating with the physician can form the relationships needed to feel a part of the community, faster.
Action items can include:
- Coordinate with the new physician & their scheduler to ensure their calendar includes any key community events coming in the next 12 months
- Provide a copy of the new physician’s CV or bio to key community leaders
- Feature the new physician’s photo & article of interest in upcoming community newsletters
- Take the physician & their family to lunch at a local restaurant, use this meeting as an opportunity to uncover each family member’s interests & needs
- Based on your lunch meeting, invite the physician & family members to participate in upcoming community events or activities
5. Build in ways to nurture those roots over time.
It is easy to remember to check in with new physicians early on when practice set up and outreach activities are in high gear. However, your organization’s retention plan should include ongoing recognition and networking opportunities that further support new and existing staff. It is important to also build in opportunities to routinely meet with physicians to assess how well they are adjusting and any additional professional and/or personal support they may need. This will help reduce their risk of taking flight at the end of their initial contract.
A variety of ongoing activities can support retention efforts, including:
- The adoption, promotion & adherence to organizational issue resolution management standards
- Use of an Onboarding Platform to track how often physician outreach is occurring to ensure consistent contact
- Include physicians on mailing lists for both in-house & community newsletters
- Host quarterly lunch meetings/presentations between department leaders & area physician office managers for educational opportunities relating to practice management, hospital business practices/services & new process implementation
- Actively measure physician satisfaction to uncover opportunities for staff relations improvements
- Offer physicians the opportunity to publicize any newsworthy events (board certification, new technique or service, upcoming educational talk, etc.) via the organization’s website and social media
- Sponsor quarterly social functions open to all medical staff; examples include a Doctor’s Day, a Hospital Week cookout (for physicians & their families), a medical staff reception to recognize physician leaders, new physician introductions & a holiday event or winter social function
By implementing these steps into your physician onboarding program, you can create a results-based approach that fosters long-term success within your organization. Learn about how Marketware’s Onboarding platform can help streamline your onboarding here.
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Tool Kit — Physician Onboarding
Physician Onboarding Plan
To succeed in a new provider’s ramp-up, day-to-day effectiveness & long-term retention, you need a comprehensive physician onboarding plan that…
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