The road to becoming a physician demands many years of schooling and residency – the cost, time, and knowledge required, combined with a number of healthcare policy changes, discourages many young adults from pursuing this profession.

Simply put, the United States is not adding enough new physicians to keep up with the growing demand for them.

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) projects that by the year 2030 there could be a physician shortfall as low as 40,000 doctors to as high as 104,000 doctors. Now more than ever, healthcare organizations must focus on attracting and retaining physicians to ensure organizational success.

To do this, health systems need to implement a comprehensive physician alignment strategy. If organizations do not start to plan, design, and execute a physician outreach and alignment program now, they won’t be able to overtake competitors or retain physicians in the future. The four steps outlined in this post can help ensure that health systems’ physician outreach strategy is well thought-out, data-driven, and ultimately leads to alignment.
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Physicians are the lifeblood of healthcare organizations; by providing excellent patient care, they foster patient loyalty and bring revenue into the organization. Since they are so vital to healthcare operations, health systems need to keep their physicians productive and engaged. The best way to accomplish this is through a focused physician engagement strategy.

The first step in creating this strategy is collecting and analyzing data about physicians and the patients they treat. Specialized physician liaison teams use this data to inform their outreach strategies and ensure their efforts are communicated properly. This outreach is intended to help physicians improve the care they are giving their patients, handle issues physicians may be facing in their work, increase the number of in-network referrals physicians are providing, and boost financial performance.

Let’s look at how healthcare organizations can use claims data insights to create successful physician outreach efforts:
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The changing nature of competition, the quest to improve patient experience, and patient channel innovation all require that healthcare institutions build relationships aligning with both physicians’ concerns and ambitions.

By effectively doing so, a health system may be able to deepen its referral network and in turn both retain and/or grow market share.

An effective physician alignment strategy is a critical component. Physician outreach teams need to take advantage of data, employ targeted communication, and resolve issues effectively to ensure physicians are committed to delivering the highest quality care and interested in referring to specialists in-network.

Let’s define physician alignment and discuss strategies for improving physician alignment at your organization: More

Millennial physicians will benefit the healthcare industry by bringing their tech-friendly and collaborative attitudes into hospitals and health systems.

Though these young doctors may be at the forefront of digital health transformation in a value-based healthcare landscape, millennials are also notorious for being “job hoppers.”

In fact, a Gallup report found 21 percent of millennials have changed jobs within the past year, and only 29 percent report being engaged at work, or emotionally and behaviorally connected to their job.

As a result, health systems need to consider adopting a physician engagement strategy that appeals to millennial physicians to improve satisfaction and retention.

Let’s look at a few ways hospitals and health systems can engage and retain millennial physicians:  More