The Situation

A significant part of the growth and success of a hospital is dependent upon the right mix of primary care providers and specialists. However, the demand for these professionals greatly outweighs the supply. As the provider workforce ages, hospitals are forced to compete for the recruitment of new talent. To add to the complexity, hospitals must contend with Stark and IRS regulations regarding recruitment of new providers. Without strategic analysis and careful planning, provider recruitment programs may become stagnant and the hospitals will suffer. This is where Medical Staff Development Planning from Community Hospital Corporation (CHC) can help.

The Solution

Community Hospital Consulting (CHC Consulting), the management and consulting arm of CHC, creates a medical staff development plan to meet regulatory requirements by determining the number of providers needed in the community for each specialty. The plan also builds in transition planning based on medical staff composition factors such as specialty and age of each provider.

Correlating provider supply and specialties with market demand and conditions allows CHC Consulting to effectively support hospital leadership in its physician recruitment and retention efforts.

CHC Consulting Medical Staff Development Planning encompasses the following components:

• Analysis of primary and secondary service areas
  • Identifying the Stark service area (based on patient origin)
  • Comparing to the hospital’s traditional primary and secondary service areas
  • Gaining consensus on the study area to evaluate
  • Reviewing the hospital’s strategic plans for the future and service line growth objectives

“CHC is a trusted business companion that has paired nicely with our organization. The data they provide makes each day run more efficiently, giving me the opportunity to focus on recruiting quality providers.”

Michelle Adams, Director of Physician Recruiting, Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas

• Analysis of the market area, including demographics
  • Current and projected population
  • Age, ethnicity and income
• Analysis of medical staff composition
  • Specialty, age, gender, office location, board certification and hospital status
  • Identifying any vulnerabilities due to potential retirements or practice slowdowns
• Input from providers to determine service area needs and access issues
  • Conducting one-on-one interviews with a representative sample of primary care providers and specialists
  • Interviews with hospital administration and clinical management team
  • Conducting medical staff surveys
• Analysis of provider demand using a combination of benchmark studies
  • Identifying specialty providers in the service area
  • Calling provider practices in the study area to confirm FTE counts and accessibility issues
  • Developing a master list of specialty providers
  • Computing provider-to-population ratios

Competing for limited provider resources can be challenging – especially for community and rural hospitals. Hospital leaders need to be strategic in their recruitment approach. Medical Staff Planning can help identify community needs, while gaining involvement and consensus of the hospital medical staff.

After this thorough analysis, CHC is able to draw the following conclusions:

• Providers needed by specialty
• Medical staff succession planning
• Gaps in provider coverage by location
• Recommended recruitment priorities

Based on these conclusions, CHC Consulting presents a formal written plan and recommendations to help community hospitals with their transition planning, medical staff recruitment and development.

Download PDF Version of Medical Staff Development Plan Solution