• A Medical Staff Development Plan provides an overall view of the physician needs in the community and at the hospital. This plan documents the community need and identifies physician recruitment priorities to fill this need.
• Physician Workforce Needs Assessment targets an individual physician specialty and thoroughly researches and documents the community need for this particular specialty/subspecialty.

Due to the Federal Government's scrutiny (Medicare Anti-Kickback statute, Stark I and II, IRS Revenue Ruling 97-21) of physician-hospital recruitment arrangements, it is imperative that physician recruitment needs in the community are adequately, objectively and appropriately documented. In addition to documenting community needs, these studies serve as a strategic guide to the hospital in their overall strategic and service line planning and help to crystallize the organization's physician strategy.

Key Objectives

These studies fulfill the following key objectives:

• Profile the Hospital's current physician provider configuration (e.g., specialty mix, age profile, board certification). Identify the extent and nature of current and anticipated "vulnerabilities" that may be due to limited physician resources in a particular specialty, physicians nearing/exceeding retirement age, or other factors relative to current utilization levels and the organization's overall and service line strategies.
• Develop an inventory of the existing physicians in the Hospital's primary and secondary service areas and project the number needed by specialty/subspecialty, and clinical service line over the next three years.
• Identify desired attributes of physician recruitment candidates based on community profile/needs.
• Provide a plan that identifies future medical staff composition and distribution needs, and sets forth targets specific to physician recruitment and development efforts over the next three years.
• Build consensus within the medical staff and management team specific to the number of physicians needed and the goals and strategies of the Plan.

Distinctive/Proprietary Tools

• Proprietary database of physician-to-population ratios, based on a review and compilation of more than ten different models including GMENAC, Medical Economics, The New England Journal of Medicine and others.
• Proprietary methodology that blends quantitative and qualitative analyses including:
• Customized market analysis and adjusted physician-to-population ratios based on unique characteristics (demographics, health status, age, incidence rates, emergency room use, HPSAs/MUAs, etc.) of each hospital's service area.
• Personal interviews with medical staff and other key stakeholders.
• Adjusted supply figures based on gaps or limitations in existing physician coverage such as:
• Underserved ethnic groups
• Service gaps within particular specialty areas
• Poor or marginal quality providers
• Payer segments (e.g., Medicaid) which are underserved
• Older physicians "slowing down" in their practices (e.g., part-time office hours)
• Build consensus for physician recruitment priorities through on-site task force meeting facilitation.

For more information please call 1-800-MED-STAFF.