2024-05-14  Prasanthi Naidoo

 

Standing out in a crowed market can sometimes be a daunting task. Independent medical clinics are no exception especially in large cities like Calgary and Edmonton where clinics are clustered around the cities and competing for physician talent becomes a real challenge.

Although the supply of doctors are at all time highs across Canada, the demand for doctors still remains extremely strong. Physician recruitment for independent medical clinics are not supported by the provincial health authorities as these clinics are privately owned and operated. Independent medical clinics are having an extremely difficult time trying to attract and source physicians especially family doctors to permanently work at their clinics.

How does independent medical clinics recruit hard to find doctors? Well the obvious list of resources are available to post your job ad and to spread the word that you're hiring:

1) Department of Family Medicine Website

2) Primary Care Network Website

3) Family Medicine Residents Association Website

4) Provincial Professional Association Website

5) National Professional Association Website

6) General Job Boards

7) Healthcare Job Boards

8) Locum Apps

Just working through this list and getting your job ad out into the market can be an exhausting exercise... and after doing all this work and paying a fortune in job posting fees, nothing happens... Why is physician recruitment so difficult especially when the supply of physicians are at all time highs? Well, there are a number of factors that are at play which determines demand vs supply of physicians in Canada, one major determinant is the provincial government's budget.

So what else can independent medical clinics do to stand out in this crowded market? All clinics want the same limited supply of physicians to permanently practice at their clinics. Short answer: Improve your EMPLOYER BRAND.

What is employer brand?

"Employer brand describes an employer's reputation as a place to work, and their employee value proposition, as opposed to the more general corporate brand reputation and value proposition to customers. The term was first used in the early 1990s, and has since become widely adopted by the global management community."

From this definition, we note that there are two key areas which independent medical clinics need to work on to strengthen their employer brand:

1) Clinic's reputation

2) Physician value proposition

Clinic's Reputation

Independent medical clinic owners should frequently gauge their clinic reputation among their staff physicians and measure if it is improving, going down or staying the same. If it is going down or even staying the same clinic owners should actively try to improve the clinic's reputation. How? Good question, this will depend on each clinic's unique situation and figure out what makes their physicians happy and what's not working. For example, if a clinic has a high turnover of doctors, this clearly signals that something is wrong. The owner needs to figure out why doctors are not staying and address the problem.

Physicians Value Proposition

It's important to not only fairly remunerate physicians working at your clinic but also give them reasons to feel valued and respected. For example if you have a team of doctors and each have their own unique experience and skills, offer recognition when the occasion permits to celebrate the value that the physician brings to the clinic and to the overall patient experience. Celebrate the everyday little wonders physicians do whilst saving lives. This will increase their perceived value proposition of the clinic. It is human nature to want to celebrate and be celebrated.

So why is employer brand important for independent medical clinics, well you want to increase your net promoter score among the physician community. Physicians are notorious for finding work via word of mouth. If your employer brand is strong there's no doubt that physicians will recommend your clinic to their peer network.

Brand Recognition

Another great way to promote your employer brand is to increase brand recognition. Go to where physicians are and place your brand in front of them in a noninvasive way. Creating brand recognition for your clinic is critical for planting the seed in a physician's mind that your clinic exists and they should consider your opportunity.

If you need help to strengthen your clinic brand and to create brand recognition, we at healthjobhub.com are happy to help. Schedule a call to learn more. Book a call.

All the best!

Stay safe.

Prasanthi

Founder | healthjobhub.com