Having a Tough Time Finding Medical Office Staff? Ask Your Patients
Medical office staffing is always challenging, whether you’re looking for front office staff, RNs, or physicians. And it can be even more difficult for concierge practices for a few reasons:
- Concierge medicine is off the beaten path for most job-seekers in healthcare right now. Even if someone’s looking for the specific role you need, they may not necessarily know to look outside the traditional model.
- Concierge practices are relatively small compared to traditional practices. This is often by design, but it does mean you probably aren’t able to use recruiting companies to find job candidates like they do. The expense just wouldn’t be worthwhile since you’re not constantly hiring and firing.
- When you’re small, it’s harder to beat the major health systems in Google search results. They use their deep pockets to buy up SEO terms and show up first in job searches on sites like Indeed and LinkedIn.
The challenge, then, for medical office staffing is recruiting and hiring when you’re not top-of-mind and have limited exposure compared to bigger health organizations.
Don’t Underestimate Word of Mouth
Instead of getting discouraged or trying to compete head-to-head with the big corporations, it can be helpful to remember where you sourced your past hires. I’d guess they didn’t find you from an ad you placed in the newspaper. Most likely, it was word of mouth.
There are plenty of strategies and no shortage of places to spend money on medical office staffing. But based on conversations I’ve had with concierge doctors all over the country, the most reliable source of new hires across all markets — whether you’re in Tucson or New York or Des Moines or Omaha — is word of mouth.
This year at ROAMD’s annual Elite Retreat in Scottsdale, Arizona, the subject of medical office staffing and the difficulty of hiring came up. One physician shared his office’s struggles, then another, then another. In a room packed with some of the most successful concierge doctors in the country, we found that everyone struggles with hiring, whether it’s hiring new physicians, RNs, MAs, front office managers, care coordinators, or any other position.
Dr. Aaron Wenzel of Brentwood MD in Nashville, in his usual matter-of-fact way, spoke up and pointed out that each of us has a cohort of people who are even more evangelical about our practices than we are — our patients.
“You have to unleash them,” he said. “They want to do it. Find ways to empower them in your search.”
At that moment, every single head in the room turned to their notebooks and scribbled that down.
This was a powerful aha moment that came out of simply being in a room with other members. It wasn’t part of an agenda for the meeting. It was just a time of open discussion among colleagues.
This kind of shared experience, learning, and dialogue are what make ROAMD meetings so valuable to members. The hiring discussion alone justified the ROAMD membership and trip expenses to most people present, providing a cost-saving strategy that could save thousands of dollars on recruiters and other paid services. And it was just one moment out of three full days.
Why Your Patients Are Your Biggest Evangelists
Your patients really understand what you’re doing in concierge medicine. They’ve had a front-row seat to your practice and first-hand experience with the value you provide.
Your patients understand how you make them feel, perhaps better than you do. You may think you understand, but most concierge doctors underestimate how much their patients really support and appreciate them.
Just think about the last time you increased prices. Maybe you expected to lose half your panel, but you only lost 2%. They didn’t walk away because they value and appreciate the care you provide for them.
The other reason patients make the best evangelists for your practice is because they provide glowing, uncompensated testimonials. You’re not paying them for their praise. In fact, they’re paying you — and providing a genuine testimonial.
If you enlist their help, they’re going to tell the people in their network what a great opportunity working for this amazing practice is. They’re going to brag about your office culture and your great staff.
They may know people trapped in traditional healthcare or other fields who are unhappy and looking for a change. If they’re aware that you’re looking to fill positions, they’ll be delighted to help someone they know find a better situation.
Patients tend to talk in emotional, effusive terms because of the effect you’ve had on their health and lives. They use far more promotional language than you would ever use about yourself.
Imagine you’re at a cocktail party or a family reunion, and someone you trust says, “You would be a perfect fit working in my personal physician’s office and they have a position open right now.” Wouldn’t you be interested in applying? It resonates in a completely different way than a LinkedIn ad or a cold call from a recruiter.
Empower Your Patients to Help With Medical Office Staffing
Going to your patients for help with medical office staffing might seem awkward on the surface, but it doesn’t have to be.
We’re not talking about asking them to help you find more patients, which could feel uncomfortable and salesy.
What we’re talking about is your desire to run your office at the highest standard and serve more people in your community. If patients feel like they’re getting excellent care from you, they’ll gladly help expand your ability to offer more care to them and others.
How you empower your patients and which ones you ask will vary by practice and even by the specific physician-patient relationship.
With some, you may feel very comfortable articulating your hiring needs. When a patient compliments you about how your treatment helped them, that’s a prime opportunity to respond with, “I’m so glad! I would love to be able to help more people like you, but I just can’t find another doctor. You know our kind of people, do you know anyone that would fit?”
That could start a conversation about a job you’ve had open for six months, whether it’s a physician or another position. You could also present it as asking for their advice or recommendations.
A lot of practices send out newsletters to their patients, which can be excellent, low-pressure places to let patients know the practice’s hiring needs. “We’d like to introduce you to our new hire, who has just come on board. We still have two openings for positions X and Y.”
This whole endeavor is mostly about awareness. Simply make patients aware that there’s an opening and a need. They want to help you, but they may not know you need help. Subtle office signage may do the trick, or maybe individual conversations work better for you. Only you can decide what’s appropriate in your practice.
One tip: Don’t forget to think outside the box for positions that don’t require medical training. It can be helpful for you to consider hiring from outside the healthcare industry.
If you’re hiring someone to manage patient experience, for example, and you have patients who work in the hospitality industry, tap into that resource pool. People with a background in hospitality know customer experience better than anyone.
Join ROAMD for More Peer Group Benefits
When I think back to that meeting of successful physicians, I’m truly encouraged. The value of the right peer group and the shared knowledge they provide is exponential.
I hope we’ve been able to pass along some of that value in this post, and I also hope to see you with us in person at the next meeting. Who knows what practice-altering discussions will take place?
Activate your membership now to enroll.
Dr. Scott Pope serves as the Chief Growth Officer at In Scope Ventures, a growth consulting firm focused on early stage healthcare companies. Scott is passionate about healthcare entrepreneurship and has been involved in various advocacy efforts to promote innovation in the industry.
Scott earned his PharmD from Ohio Northern University, where he participated in Habitat for Humanity, Phi Mu Delta, Order of Omega, and NCAA basketball. After graduating from ONU, Scott completed a pharmacy residency at Cone Health, followed by a specialty residency in infectious diseases, internal medicine, and academics at Campbell University and Duke University Medical Center.
-02.svg)