2017 ASPR In‐House Physician Recruitment Benchmarking Report

RPT_CoverPDFEXECUTIVE SUMMARY  

ASPR is pleased to announce that the 2017 ASPR In‐House Physician Recruitment Benchmarking Report is now available. The newly published Report is an annual survey conducted by the Association of Staff Physician Recruiters (ASPR), a professional organization exclusively for in‐house physician recruitment professionals. ASPR is the leading authority on physician recruitment, onboarding, and retention. ASPR is comprised of more than 1,700 in‐house physician recruitment professionals employed directly by hospitals, clinics, physician practices, academic medical centers, and managed care organizations from across the United States and Canada.

The 2017 ASPR In-House Physician Recruitment Benchmarking Report is designed to provide easy-to-comprehend statistics in order to help in-house physician recruitment professionals compare their recruitment data against industry norms. Benchmarks are critical for our industry as we constantly strive for improved processes and results within our organizations to meet the healthcare needs within our communities. The purpose of the survey is to collect and distribute credible industry data that may be utilized to meet these objectives.

The 2017 ASPR In-House Physician Recruitment Benchmarking Report provides a detailed analysis of key statistics on provider recruitment searches conducted by in‐house physician recruiters during calendar year 2016. A total of 144 organizations participated providing data for 490 in‐house physician recruiters and 6,661 active searches. Please refer to the full Report and Searchable Results for comprehensive information.

DEMOGRAPHICS

The geographical distribution of participating organizations was relatively balanced again this year, with 28% in the Midwest, 28% in Southern states, 25% in Eastern states, and 20% in Western states. Regarding population size of the organization’s primary location, 38% were located in a Metropolitan area of more than 500,000 people, 26% of reporting organizations’ primary location was in a Metropolitan area of 50,001 to 250,000 people, 18% were in an area with a population ranging from 250,001 to 500,000 people, and 18% were located in a Rural market* with 50,000 or fewer people.

The typical† responding organization is located in a Metropolitan area of 250,001 to 500,000 people, while Southern states and the Midwest are tied as the most common region. Each region gives residence to 28% of the responding organizations. The ASPR chapter, “Onboarding and Retention (OAR)” — which is by far the most frequently cited chapter — has members among 29% of responding organizations. Approximately 84% of organizations employ recruiters belonging to one or more chapters or regional groups.

The typical responding organization performed 40 active searches during 2016. This interrupts the previous pattern of steady increases, spanning from 20 searches in 2012 to 45 in 2015. Respondents employed a median of 2 in-house physician recruiters (4 on average), which has held fairly constant. Per calendar year, the number of searches per recruiter has climbed from 15 searches in 2011 to 23 searches per recruiter in 2016, an increase of approximately 53% in the past 5 years.

SEARCHES

The Searches section relays key statistics about 6,661 searches, of which 38% were to replace a departing provider. Approximately 57% of active searches were filled by year‐end; 35% remained open; 6% were cancelled; and 2% were put on hold. Once again, the majority (66%) of searches were for practices owned by Hospitals/Integrated Delivery Systems.

The top five overall searches conducted were Nurse Practitioner (13%), Physician Assistant (9%), Family Medicine (9%), Pediatrics (7%), and Hospital Medicine (7%). The top five physician searches were Family Medicine (9%), Pediatrics (7%), Hospital Medicine (7%), Internal Medicine (6%), and Ob/Gyn (3%). Over 2/3 of responding organizations searched for a Family Medicine provider during 2016. This represents the most common search for an organization, followed by Internal Medicine (searched by 57%) and Hospital Medicine (searched by 55%). Specialties were again grouped into four main divisions: Advanced Practice, Primary Care, Specialty Care, and Surgery. Of these divisions, Advanced Practice searches were filled in 96 days, while Specialty Care positions required 149 days. Primary Care and Surgery specialties tended to be filled in 125 and 151 days, respectively. All divisions saw an increase in the typical number of days for a search to be filled.

RECRUITER PROFILE & COMPENSATION

The Profile and Compensation section reports data on 490 in‐house physician recruitment professionals from 144 organizations. As in past studies, the most frequently cited position title was “Physician Recruiter”, followed by “Senior Physician Recruiter”. The typical in-house recruitment professional is a female (81%) with 7 years of recruitment experience (average = 9 years). Approximately 85% of their time is spent on recruitment activities. Twenty-four percent supervise staff, 54% have provider onboarding responsibilities, and 36% have provider retention responsibilities.

Nearly 80% of individuals involved in in-house physician recruiting hold a Bachelor’s degree or higher (25% hold a Master’s degree or higher). Approximately 40% of in‐house physician recruiters are certified as a Fellow of ASPR or have obtained designations towards certification.

All compensation values were reported and validated directly by a member of the organization’s Human Resources department. Compensation varies by title with the title of Director, Physician Recruitment and Retention being the most highly compensated. Nearly half of all in-house physician recruiters were eligible to receive a bonus in 2016 with a median bonus of $7,200. Those with higher titles were more likely to receive bonuses.

As expected, a correlation exists between years of experience and total compensation. The highest income earners are more likely to have advanced degrees, responsibilities for supervising staff, and more years of experience.

Visit ASPR.org for for the full report.

 

*The US Census Bureau defines a Rural market as an area with a population of 50,000 or less

†Throughout this report, the term “typical” indicates the median response.