2019 AAPPR Annual Report Summary and Highlights

RPT_CoverPDFThe 2019 AAPPR In-House Physician and Provider Recruitment Benchmarking Report (based on calendar year 2018) is designed to provide credible industry data to help in-house physician and provider recruitment professionals prepare, plan, and forecast to meet the challenges of an evolving health care landscape. Benchmarks are critical for our industry as we constantly strive for improved processes and results within our organizations to meet the needs within our communities.

The information was collected and confidentially prepared by Industry Insights Inc. of Columbus, Ohio, while working closely with Association for Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment (AAPPR) representatives in all aspects of the study. An online, survey portal is available and hosted by Industry Insights at www.AAPPRbenchmarking.com. Survey invitations were emailed to physician and provider recruitment professionals nationally, beginning in February 2019. A total of 146 organizations (providing data for 492 in-house physician recruiters and 10,139 active searches) participated prior to the final deadline of July 8, 2019.

New findings confirm that the United States physician shortage is on the rise, impacting recruitment and retention at every level. From specialists to family medicine practitioners, recruiting and hiring physicians continues to be a challenge facing health care systems and physician practices. This industry trend continues to worsen, according to the recently released benchmark study from the AAPPR, whose members are the leading authorities in the physician and provider recruitment to retention continuum.

Nearly 150 AAPPR member organizations participated in the extensive annual research study representing more than 10,000 searches, almost two-thirds specific to physicians. A new feature of the interactive report is users can create their unique benchmark report with a Days to Fill Calculator. This online predictive indicator provides a range of time it will likely take to fill a specific physician specialty vacancy based on geographic area or desirability of location.

The pages of the full report provide more detailed explanations, and the online Advanced Search Application (available at www.AAPPRbenchmarking.com) provides a virtually limitless number of ways to review this year’s data.

Highlights from the just-released 2019 In-House Physician and Provider Recruitment Benchmarking Report:

  • Organizations are doing more searches than ever before, and they are hiring more in-house physician recruiters as a result.
  • Physician searches are taking longer than ever recorded in the 10-year history of the report.
  • Primary care specialties of family, internal medicine, and hospitalist physicians are the most sought-after, making them the most competitive searches to fill.
  • Physician positions that were least likely to be filled in 2018   included Dermatology, Genetics, Plastic Surgery, and Gastroenterology.
  • Facilities serving smaller communities see higher physician turnover, thereby increasing staffing costs.
  • The increasing difficulty of filling physician vacancies and the overall economy and job market are boosting recruiter compensation levels for the 24/7 role they fill.
  • Most recruiters have some workplace flexibility that allows them to work from home or work flexible hours. But despite that and the increase in pay, turnover is highest for recruiters who are pushed to carry more than the median search load.

 
The full report includes comparative organizational profiles, search information, recruiter profile data, and recruiter compensation figures. The data in the report, coupled with the online portal, have been segmented to reveal findings and provide tools that allow insights for process refinement and strategy development. The information in the report provides an “abridged” view of the survey results. The online portal (www.AAPPRbenchmarking.com) provides a more complete view of the results through its Advanced Search tool, Calculators, and Interactive Infographics. To obtain a copy of this report, log in, or register at www.AAPPRbenchmarking.com.