THUMBS UP Physicians will bring their cases to efficient, patient-friendly facilities.

Competing with neighboring surgery centers and hospitals for cases can be a full-time job. Here are 5 proven ways to recruit new surgeons to bring cases to your facility. As you’ll see, the key is to work smarter, not harder, for new docs.

Know where to find quality recruits
Where do you find physicians to recruit? Start by asking your surgeons to suggest colleagues they operate with elsewhere. You can avoid feelings of competition among the medical staff by explaining how increasing volume at your facility in every specialty increases the bottom line and leads to cost savings through greater buying power. More physicians bringing more cases to the center limits lulls in the schedule, which also helps retain quality employees.

Your surgeons network with peers at professional society meetings. That’s where they’re able to gauge compatible personalities and know who’s on the cutting edge of surgical techniques. Affiliating with those forward-thinking docs will give your center a marketing advantage in the community.

You can network with interested surgeons by joining professional organizations such as the American College of Healthcare Executives and specialty interest groups. Clinical staff attending regional or national conferences may hear an enthusiastic physician-speaker. They can approach him for referrals to other surgeons in your area who practice the same innovative techniques.

Sell your strengths
What service lines do you already have in place that result in high physician satisfaction? Why are your docs so happy? New equipment, efficient teams and patient outcomes are likely key factors.

If you recruit physicians to your center who don’t require starting from scratch, you can increase volume quickly and efficiently. For example, if you just bought new GI endoscopes, consider using that fact to entice new physicians to try them out. Do you have a stellar orthopedic team that knows shoulder scopes inside and out? Target physicians who may be unhappy with subpar performances during those cases at other facilities. Are your plastic surgery patient satisfaction scores off the charts? Market that to plastic surgeons whose primary referral sources are from other satisfied patients. Whatever your strengths are, play those up when approaching new physicians so they can clearly see the benefits of coming to your center.

Beware of equipment needs
Surgeons who practice laparoscopy, spine and orthopedics might have laundry lists of new equipment for you to buy. In addition, new implant requests may mean negotiating new consignment agreements with vendors, so needed materials should be involved in recruitment discussions. Space limitations are also a factor. Where are you going to put the new video tower and C-arm your new doc requested? And don’t forget the additional long-term costs of equipment-specific disposables, sterile processing requirements, and maintenance or repair contracts when evaluating costs associated with the purchases you might need to make to add a new surgeon.

Appease current docs
Bringing new physicians on board may help move your plan of upgrading equipment, but don’t alienate your existing physicians in the process. I remember being in a staff lounge and overhearing surgeons talking about the new doc in town who was being wined and dined by hospital administration. They were bitter — really bitter — that they had been asking for new equipment for years but their requests had been passed over by administration in favor of pursuing this new doctor and accommodating his wish list. These surgeons had been practicing at this facility for decades and their cases were a big percentage of the hospital’s revenues. Imagine if they decided the recruitment of the new physician was the final straw and left the facility. It could easily have happened.

As you recruit new doctors, don’t forget to take care of the surgeons who have been faithful to your facility. This may mean proactively approaching them about equipment upgrade requests, involving them in the recruiting process and preserving their coveted block time.

Above all, try not to take their regular OR team away to work with new surgeons. If this is absolutely necessary, prep the veteran surgeons well in advance and include them in the staffing decisions. Perhaps they need a stronger tech, but would reluctantly part with their circulator. Be aware of your surgeons’ needs so you can continue to grow your center’s business instead of making up for cases lost to these types of oversights.

Create an implementation team
Introducing a new physician or specialty to your facility should not be done without adequate planning. You know what strengths your staff brings to the table, so use them to bolster the resources for these new endeavors.

If you’re recruiting a new orthopedic surgeon, for example, have your ortho team sit down with him to discuss case intricacies and patient flow. Include members of the pre-op, post-op and scheduling staffs. The surgeon may want a continuous passive motion device in recovery that goes home with patients. Or he might want it delivered directly to the patient’s home. That means your scheduler must communicate with a durable medical equipment company to coordinate delivery times and locations, and your recovery room staff must have a working knowledge of the equipment in case patients have questions about how it operates.

A focused face-to-face meeting with the staff who will be caring for the new surgeon’s patients helps bridge the gap between planning and successful implementation. It also gives the team a sense of personal responsibility in making sure that both the surgeon and his patients are properly cared for once they arrive at your facility.