Blog home
Clinician burnout, combined with a fiercely competitive labor market, has led to a perfect storm for the healthcare industry. With only 29% of physicians recommending their employer as a great place to work and 36% stating they’re unlikely to stay at their current job for more than 12 months, turnover and retention remain significant challenges for employers. But even amidst the turmoil, healthcare systems are finding new ways to entice providers to stay. Here are six ways healthcare organizations are working to retain physicians and keep them happy.
1. Reevaluate physician compensation
High demand has caused wages to increase for many healthcare professions. If your facility is losing a high number of providers, it may be time to reevaluate salaries.
“We are looking at salaries and making sure that everyone is within or above a fair market value,” says Amy Burns, manager of physician recruitment for Ascension St. Vincent’s. Additionally, Ascension is fighting back against the lure of sign-on bonuses with retention bonuses of their own. “You might get a bonus when you start, and then if you stick around for a year, you get another bonus,” she says. “We are working toward making sure that we are competitive so that people don't want to leave for a few dollars more somewhere else.”
“We are offering incentives to providers that I’ve never seen in the past,” says Amber Latham, HR recruiter at Presbyterian Healthcare Services. “We want to meet their need and make sure they’re going to be happy in choosing our facility and want to stay. We’ve offered bonuses and raises, so we’re definitely trying to keep up with some of the competitors within our region.”
Another option is to reevaluate your organization’s compensation model, says Austin Chatlin, managing director of CHG Healthcare’s Advisory Services. Some physician compensation models, like the RVU model, don’t lend themselves to flexibility and can be off-putting to physicians.
“The general solution is you have to change the model for how you pay and schedule your physicians,” he says. “The number one thing that providers want is flexibility. It's flexibility in how they work, how much they work, and the care delivery model in which they work.”
Dive deeper: How to address staffing challenges by creating a flexible physician workforce
2. Make retention a focus of onboarding
Onboarding is your organization’s first touch point with a new provider, and how you deliver that onboarding may very well influence the provider’s long-term success.
"A formal, well-structured onboarding program is a key driver of physician engagement,” says Scott Polenz, principal consultant of CHG’s Advisory Services. “It helps new physicians feel confident, connected, and supported, enabling them to integrate into the organization’s culture and workflow more quickly."
In a survey about onboarding practices, 56% of physicians who had a positive onboarding experience expressed high job satisfaction, while only 19% of those with a negative onboarding experience did.
Parkview Health focuses on retention from the moment a provider joins the organization. Onboarding is “more than coordinating scores of paperwork and sending them on their way,” says Angela Pulcini, director of provider services for Parkview Health. “It's staying in touch with our providers throughout their first year. They have a physician mentor assigned to them as well as a navigator who guides them through the pre-hire process and then stays with them throughout the first year.”
3. Offer schedule flexibility to physicians
Nearly three-quarters of physicians (72%) recently surveyed by CHG Healthcare said flexible schedules were an important aspect of their job, but only 61% said they were currently satisfied with their work flexibility. Likewise, 86% said work-life balance was important, but only 59% feel their life and work are balanced now. This disconnect offers an opportunity for healthcare organizations to prioritize flexibility, which can, in turn, increase physician work satisfaction.
Polenz shares some ways to offer flexibility, including four-day workweeks, job sharing, part-time work, and telehealth. He also suggests allowing physicians to work from home when possible. “If you have a physician who’s a 0.2 admin, let them work from home a day a week. That just comes down to trust,” he says.
Allowing providers the flexibility to take time off can also help reduce burnout. “Physicians are notorious for never taking time off,” says Polenz. “So say to them, ‘We’re going to hire a locum so you can take two weeks off with your family.’ We know that’s going to cost money, but what’s more important is your long-term well-being and preventing burnout.”
More from Scott Polenz: 8 solutions that reduce turnover and improve physician retention
4. Facilitate meetings between physicians and senior leaders
Nearly all physicians (85%) want open communication with leadership in order to feel satisfied with their jobs, according to CHG’s Physician Sentiment Survey. However, only half (51%) currently feel satisfied with this metric. One way to easily increase satisfaction is to facilitate meetings between providers and senior leaders.
Senior leaders at Mercy meet directly with physicians to ask them what they need. “It starts with listening and being present,” says Barb Martin, executive director, provider recruitment. “Our senior leadership team sets intentional time to sit down and listen to what providers have to say. This is critically important in understanding how we may best support them to improve engagement, satisfaction, and reduce burnout.”
5. Help physicians and their families build community connections
Healthcare providers—and physicians in particular—can live and work nearly anywhere they want. If you want to retain them, it’s crucial to help providers build lasting ties within the community so they will be less inclined to leave.
“We work with our chamber of commerce, which has great programs to help people get integrated in their community. When family, partners, and spouses find opportunities within our community, their job is not the only thing keeping them here,” explains Jessie Pondell, manager of talent strategy for Prevea Health.
That effort to foster community connections begins during the recruitment process for Aspirus Health. “It’s just letting them know right up front that we have amazing resources—anything that they need, they can reach out to us,” says Nicole Kiser, locum tenens recruiter for Aspirus Health.
"We literally have resources for everything in the community: daycare, making sure your family is a good fit, if you need help with this and that. Providing as many possible resources as you can upfront during the recruitment process—that's really something that sticks with them.”
Keep your staff: The secrets to long-term physician retention
6. Take exit interviews seriously
With more than a third of physicians (37%) stating they would not recommend their current workplace as a great place to work, healthcare organizations can benefit from understanding why this is the case to help improve the experience for future employees.
Exit interviews can help provide a blueprint for improvement. “During those exit interviews or even during that time of receiving that resignation, we’re trying to see what, overall, the reason they’re leaving is and what can Presbyterian do better,” Latham says.
Provider retention is key
Provider retention is a major challenge for nearly every health system, but following these strategies can help improve provider satisfaction and increase loyalty to your organization. When physicians feel heard, trusted, and engaged, they’re more likely to stay, which is a win for everyone.
CHG can provide your healthcare facility with the physicians and advanced practice providers you need to grow your organization. To learn more, contact us by phone at 866.588.5996 or email ecs.contact@chghealthcare.com.
