Some Top Trends in the Physician Job Sector You Should Know Before Hiring a Physician

If you have a medical or healthcare organization and are looking to hire a physician for your company, you should be looking for one who has the right amount of skill and experience. But skill and experience are already a given; there are other factors you should be looking at as well, such as empathy, compassion, interpersonal skills, and the like.

But before you hire a physician, it also pays to know the particular trends that are shaping the physician job sector today. So, what are these trends, and how can knowledge of these trends help you?

Here are some top trends in the physician job sector you should know before hiring a physician.

The downtrend for private practice physicians

Since the 1990s, the number of physicians who have their private practice has been dwindling, and it showed a new low in 2012. While there are still some physicians who have their practice and their employees, this number has been steadily decreasing. In 2012, it was shown that about 53% of physicians still had their private practice, although this number had already declined from the years 2007 and 2008 when about 61% of physicians had their practice. 2012 also showed that about 42% of physicians were employed by an institution or organization, while 5% of physicians were independent or freelance contractors.

The percentages vary according to the specialty of the physician as well. For example, for physicians specializing in family medicine, 40% had their practice while 58% were employed and only 2% were freelance contractors. But for physicians with specialties such as radiology, anesthesiology, and surgical subspecialties, ownership of a practice was at 64%, 69%, and 72%, respectively.

In 2014, the numbers changed as well. During this year, it was discovered that only about 35% of physicians identified themselves as independent, while for physicians specializing in family medicine, the figure dropped to only 31%.

What the trends say

The trends point to one thing: more physicians are choosing to be employed, and the rate of employed physicians is growing. More hospitals are employing physicians regularly, and this is true not just for family medicine but for other specialties as well.

Today, there’s another difference – it’s not just traditional hospitals that are looking to employ physicians. There are many other healthcare organizations seeking physicians to employ, and this includes urgent or emergency care medical centers, surgery centers, retail clinics, academic medical organizations and centers, and even insurance firms and companies.

More organizations looking for the right physicians are increasingly turning to physician recruiter firms as well, such as https://mascmedical.com. By turning to a recruitment firm with a national reach and in-depth industry knowledge, especially regarding physicians, health organizations can be more assured of their options and ultimately make a better choice.

In the ever-changing healthcare landscape, it pays to know the emerging trends so that you can anticipate demand or lack of it, and plan your physician recruitment strategy accordingly.