By: My husband and I moved into a new development a few years ago. Thinking back on that experience, our salesperson – Lorraine – guided us in selecting our specific lot, home model and internal features. Once we signed the contract, we were transitioned over to the general contractor – Tommy – to review the building process and timeline. The “hand-off” from buying to building was smooth and efficient.
Tommy was our intermediary with the building subcontractors – carpenters, electricians, HVAC, plumbers, painters. He had our specs and worked to ensure they were implemented correctly. While there were some snags, Tommy kept us informed on how those glitches were being addressed and the impact they had on our “move in” date.
As I look out over the physician recruitment landscape, there are several physician groups, hospitals and health systems that have a Lorraine in place but are missing a Tommy. A “deal” is made with a new physician to join a group – or with a group to join the system – but then there is no central resource that navigates the physician or group into their new home. A sizeable investment is being made on the front end but then there is little in place on the back end to protect that investment and ensure it fulfills the intended ROI.
With a market as competitive as physician recruitment is today, recruiting organizations that have this transition gap are leaving themselves particularly vulnerable to having a dissatisfied new physician/group and future turnover. Beyond that, there is a revenue-generating resource (physician/group) that is missing its start-up plan.
Ensuring that a new recruit/acquisition moves through that initial transition effectively is more than a nice-thing-to-do. A lackluster ramp-up of a new physician practice or a bumpy transfer of a practice acquisition directly impacts the bottom line. Given how hard it is to recruit these physicians/practices, wouldn’t it be worth an incremental investment to ensure they become a satisfied and a fully productive revenue generator? Beyond having a Lorraine to bring them into the organization, doesn’t it make sense to also have a Tommy to effectively transition these recruits into their new homes?
Onboarding is our specialty here at Barlow/McCarthy. Send me an email (amccarthy@barlowmccarthy.com) or give us a call (508-394-8098) if you need some help creating an onboarding plan for your team.