Help (really) wanted

Is your organization looking for family medicine practitioners or internal medicine physicians? Wondering why the search is taking so long? Merritt Hawkins’ “2014 Review Of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives” spots some interesting trends that might already be affecting your organization. The annual review is based on the demand for the company’s services. During the 12 months from April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014, Merritt Hawkins/AMN Healthcare conducted or were engaged to conduct 3,158 permanent physician or advanced practice professional (APP) search assignments.

The review indicates which types of physicians are in the greatest demand and which are the most challenging to recruit. Notable among the Merritt Hawkins’ most recent findings: Family medicine, internal medicine, and hospitalists were the most in-demand specialties among the company’s clients. Psychiatry was the fourth most sought after. APPs—nurse practitioners and physician assistants—made the survey’s top five for the first time.

Prior to 2011, Merritt Hawkins received few requests to recruit APPs, the company stated. Since then, APP demand has come on strong. Last year, NPs and PAs made the list of the company’s top 20 most requested search assignments for the first time. “In the 2014 survey, NPs and PAs combined rank as our fifth most requested search. The number of search assignments Merritt Hawkins conducted for NPs and PAs grew 320% from 2011/12 to 2013/14.”

You can request the complete report from the company’s website.

How scarce are family practitioners in your area? Has your organization hired a recruiter to find an NP or a PA? Tell me. And thanks for reading!

Mary Stevens, editor, Credentialing Resource Center Insider