Perspective

Physicians are increasingly anxious about their ability to continue to serve their patients and remain viable as a business entity.  To optimize their businesses, many practices and groups are developing their own diagnostic centers, establishing satellite offices, even creating new, competing hospitals or relocating to more attractive markets.  Furthermore, many senior physicians are discouraged with their prospects and are simply retiring from their practices.  Every time a physician enters or leaves a community or develops a service that competes with programs available at a hospital or health system, the organization will be impacted.

Need

To the extent they can, hospitals and health systems want to influence the number and mix of physicians on their medical staffs.  They attempt to achieve a balance of primary care physicians and specialists that will fulfill community need while optimizing the utilization of the resources existing or planned by the organization.  They will also want to replace physicians who are planning to relocate or retire and they will need to attract new physicians to account for growing population or shifting demographics.  Hospitals and health systems need to plan for the development of their medical staffs within the context of an objective process that can withstand the scrutiny of anti-trust and restraint of trade lawsuits.  To accomplish these goals, hospital leaders will need to be able to answer a number of key questions:

What is the current composition of our medical staff by specialty? By age?  By office location?

How many physicians will our existing market area require in the foreseeable future?  Would we be able to expand our market area if we could recruit physicians into new communities?

How many physicians are currently practicing in the market area?  To what extent can they be considered full-time?

Are there gaps in physician coverage, either in aggregate or within specific geographic zones of the market area?

Do the members of our medical staff and their patients have adequate access to specialists who are also on our staff?  

ASR Planning can help organizations answer these and many related questions.

Idea

Our model for medical staff development planning is designed to provide hospitals and health systems with both quantitative and qualitative information for decision making.  Quantitatively, we use national physician-to-population ratios and benchmarks to determine the number of physicians needed in a community.  By applying current or targeted market shares, we can project the number of physicians needed by an individual organization, by specialty and location.  We review the organization’s existing medical staff database to determine the supply of physicians available to meet future needs.  As appropriate, we can adjust the supply to account for retirements and relocations.  We can also adjust the supply to account for shifts in loyalty of physicians who develop competitive programs or who shift to another organization.

Qualitatively, we can survey the entire medical staff, conduct focus groups or participate in selective face-to-face interviews with members of the medical staff.  From these processes we are able to determine any anticipated changes in practice patterns among members of the medical staff.  We can also determine any perceived problems they are having regarding access of specific specialty capabilities.  Once the gaps between supply and demand are determined, we assist the organization in identifying the necessary and appropriate strategies to increase their supply of physicians.  

Benefits

The key benefits associated with our model include:

An objective evaluation of your current and required medical staff composition.

A methodology that can withstand litigation.

Implementation strategies that are based on experience and research.

Solution

Our team of seasoned healthcare consultants has assisted clients with all aspects of strategic planning.  While an individual organization may evaluate any given program once every five years or more, we are constantly monitoring the industry for the changes that will impact the continuum of programs and services.  The opportunity to achieve substantial change requires consultants with the depth and breadth of experience to accomplish the task.

Contact:
Douglas Rich, FAAHC, FACHE
Managing Director
Phone:  773.929.4400
doug.rich@asrplanning.com

Office Location:
3023 North Clark Street, Suite 317
Chicago, IL 60657