When you need to beef up your trauma medical staff, what is your first step? For most trauma medical directors and program managers, the answer is “Call the hospital recruiting department and have them send me some candidates.”
What’s the problem with this approach? You will probably have to pick from a severely limited pool of candidates.
You see, most hospitals have a contractual agreement with one of the large national healthcare staffing companies. What hospital recruiters may not tell you is that they will only send you physician candidates available through the hospital’s contracted staffing firm.
But for large staffing firms, trauma is only a very small part of their business. As a result, these firms do not understand the special needs of trauma programs.
For trauma program leaders, this creates a few specific problems:
1. You may not get candidates with the strongest clinical skills. Big staffing firms try to weed out problem candidates. They do not have the expertise to evaluate physicians for clinical excellence and trauma leadership abilities.
2. You will get little support with program viability. Large staffing firms are unaware of the unique financial needs of trauma programs—or how physician documentation and coding are critical to financial viability.
3. You will get no support for ACS requirements. General staffing firms are not structured to provide physician candidates who support program compliance with the Orange Book and other trauma standards.
The bottom line is that if you rely exclusively on your hospital recruiting department, you may be reducing your chances of hiring a “star player” who helps propel your trauma team forward.
*But here’s a secret…despite what your physician recruiting office tells you, staffing contracts are NOT exclusive. *That means most trauma program leaders can receive permission to work with a staffing firm that specializes in trauma physicians. It is often more work for the physician recruitment office, so there is some inertia associated with adding a company.
Do you want an alternative to the “big box” staffing firms? InterTrauma specializes in staffing for trauma and acute care surgery. We leverage an extensive network and careful due diligence to find “the best of the best” trauma physicians.
Led by an active trauma surgeon, InterTrauma vets all physician candidates for clinical and leadership skill. It also provides locum tenens physicians with extensive support. This ensures that they thrive as team leaders, help optimize charge capture, and make a strong contribution to maintaining designation/verification standards.
To find out more, contact InterTrauma today.