What Physicians Want: Big City, Bigger Paycheck, Fewer Hassles

DALLAS, June 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Physicians were generally dissatisfied with their incomes in 2012, and blame declining reimbursements and administrative hassles as major factors in their stagnant compensation, according to a recent survey by The Medicus Firm physician search.

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The annual survey of over 2,500 doctors, entitled 2013 Physician Practice Preference and Relocation Survey revealed several workforce trends and practice preferences.

"In an era when hospitals are competing on a national level for every physician they hire, practice preferences can be very helpful in composing a recruiting strategy and compensation package that will stand out and attract doctors," states Jim Stone, president of The Medicus Firm. "With the majority of the nation's more than 5,000 hospitals currently recruiting doctors, physician recruiting trends impact the general patient population in addition to hospitals, as physicians choose where to settle and provide health care that is in higher demand than ever before," Stone added.

Nearly 60 percent of physicians prefer metropolitan or suburban locations, while only 6.1 percent are open to a smaller town with fewer than 25,000 residents.

Physicians also expressed an affinity for the Eastern region of the country, with the Southeast (20.3 percent) barely edging out the Northeast (17.5 percent) as the most preferred region.

More than half (54 percent) of new physicians (those in training at the time of the survey) indicated a preference for employment by a hospital (28.1 percent) or academic center (25.9 percent).

Networking with colleagues was the favorite way to identify new practice opportunities (34.3 percent), followed by online physician job boards (28.3 percent) and physician recruiting firms (27.2 percent). Social media, mobile apps, and journal advertisements comprised the remaining nine percent of job search activities.

Compensation seemed to be a sore subject for many physicians. When asked what they feel limits their income the most, physicians selected "declining reimbursements" from a list of several factors. However, many physicians wrote in answers to this question rather than choosing one from the list provided.

The most common reasons submitted as to what limits physician pay were "hospital employment" and "EMR". Physicians expressed frustration with the limits of hospital contracts and pay structures, as well as the time spent learning and using electronic medical records, which they feel slows them down and reduces productive face-time with patients.

Many physicians reported flat or declining income, but a few specialties experienced some income growth, such as hospitalists, emergency medicine, ob/gyn, and general surgery.

"While hospital employers can't change their location, the weather, or the town population or amenities, they can offer other creative perks and solutions tailored to the physician's lifestyle, like flexible schedules, and a pleasant work environment where physicians are included in administrative decisions and allowed some of the managerial influence they had when they owned private practices," said Stone, who also serves as the newly-elected president of the National Association of Physician Recruiters (NAPR).

About The Medicus Firm:

The Medicus Firm is a national physician recruiting firm based in Dallas TX and Atlanta GA. The firm boasts one of the most experienced physician recruiting teams in the industry and has achieved numerous distinctions, including Inavero/CareerBuilder "Best of Staffing" Client List in 2013, and Best Places to Work in Healthcare 2012, by Modern Healthcare.

The Medicus Firm is actively involved with numerous professional associations including the National Association of Physician Recruiters (NAPR), the Association of Staff Physician Recruiters (ASPR) and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) as an AdminiServe™ Partner.

For more information, media inquiries, or a copy of the complete report, please visit www.TheMedicusFirm.com or contact Andrea Santiago, Director of Communications at (404) 990-3614, [email protected].

Contact:
Andrea Santiago
Director of Communications
The Medicus Firm
(404) 990-3614
[email protected]

SOURCE The Medicus Firm