Recruiting and Retaining Primary Care Physicians

The Primary Care physician shortage is becoming more critical every year. Primary Care physicians provide their patients with the basic care they require, often recommending and coordinating specialized care as needed. Despite their important role, Primary Care physicians were recently found to be the most difficult to recruit and retain, according to the Cejka Search and AMGA 2006 Physician Retention Survey.

Call responsibilities tend to be the most common challenge for Primary Care physicians. While compensation for call coverage was the least frequently mentioned strategy for recruiting and retaining these physicians, the following tactics have proven effective:
Increasing the use of Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants
Hiring Hospitalists to reduce call schedule and hospital responsibilities
Increasing base salary and/or guarantees

Among all respondents in the Cejka Search and AMGA 2006 Physician Retention Survey, 93 percent employed Primary Care physicians and 77 percent of respondents ranked Primary Care physicians first for difficulty in recruiting. Of the Primary Care physicians, the survey found that Internists were the most difficult to retain over the last two years, and pose the greatest concern for recruitment in the next five years.

The above industry trends and challenges reflect important issues from the candidate’s perspective. This information will help develop a Primary Care practice opportunity that is both appealing and competitive, thus attracting the best candidates.