5 Steps To Turn Around An Ambulatory Surgery Center Turnaround Through Physician Recruitment

One of the most effective ways to turn around a struggling ambulatory surgery center is through physician recruitment

. Adding physician-utilizers is critical to growing case volume and expanding into new specialties, and select utilizers may become owners of the ASC through syndication. Surgeon-owners are typically more invested in the ASC than just users and are more likely to bring cases to an ASC in which they have an ownership interest.

The most successful surgery centers understand and make recruitment an ongoing process. For some centers, this will be a paradigm shift and one that they will need to make. The market is changing, and those centers that do not adapt will not survive.

Here are five steps ASCs should take to recruit new physicians as part of their turnaround efforts.

1. Appoint someone to oversee recruitment efforts. You should appoint someone who will be responsible for planning and executing the recruitment of new physicians. While this person will not solely be responsible for recruiting, he or she should ensure recruitment efforts are a focused and coordinated ongoing process and is held accountable for its outcome.

2. Enlist the support and commitment of current physicians. One of the greatest assets in recruiting new physicians is the mindset and commitment of the current physician base. This support can take form in a variety of ways, including speaking with new recruits, giving tours, attending new recruit open houses, going on physician visits, attending recruitment dinners, making phones calls and participating in a letter-writing campaign.

3. Educate all owners on how to be walking billboards for the center. Physicians should know how to "sell" their ASC to practice partners and other colleagues, and should always keep an eye out for surgeons who could become future owners or bring cases to the center now. It's very important that the owners have a compelling "elevator pitch" that briefly highlights the center's unique benefits and conveys its mission. Owners will be able to use this speech at medical meetings, continuing education course, or even in the lunch line at the hospital.

4. Task surgeon-owners with introducing themselves on a regular basis to new physicians to the area. The partners should tell these prospective investors and partners about the surgery center, noting that there could be an opportunity for them to utilize and invest in the ASC. They can encourage the new-to-the-area physician to talk with current physician-owners of the center. Physicians can quickly create an open door to recruits just by picking up the phone and introducing themselves.

5. Place recruitment of new physicians on the agenda for every board meeting. During discussion on this item, physicians should identify which physicians the ASC should be reaching out to. Ask physician-owners to come prepared to put forth a few names of physicians and a little background (if known) to help with pursuit of the physician. Part of the ASC's plan should be to have a continually updated target list of physicians in the community that should be contacted and a list of physicians coming into the community for future consideration.

by: Christopher j Wall

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