In September I attended the 17th Annual National Rural Recruitment and Retention Network (3RNet) Conference in beautiful Tacoma, WA. This conference is always great for reconnecting with colleagues and friends to catch up, share stories and best practices as well as discuss and learn about all things recruitment and retention. The conference agenda was packed full of extremely knowledgeable speakers on a variety of topics including recruitment and retention, National Health Service Corps news, immigration updates and rural education to name a few.
One
of the agenda items that really intrigued me was a presentation called Retrofitting Retention Resources by
Sharon Vail, Executive Director of the Rimrock Health Alliance. She shared an
effective tool for the retention of physicians in rural communities where each
factor within the matrix was assigned a color, as well as a numeric value and
was broken into 5 divisions: Geographic, Scope of Practice, Medical Support,
Hospital/Clinic/Community Support and Future Opportunities. The assessments are
not tied to performance reviews, but used to help physicians be as successful
as possible. The Rimrock Health Alliance believes that knowing your strengths
and challenges as a health care facility is extremely important and that the
importance of a good retention plan will leave nothing to chance.
At The Center we recognize the importance
of a good retention plan and believe it is vital in retaining providers and protecting
that investment both from a business and community perspective. The estimated
costs of replacing one primary care physician can result in a minimum of $20,000
to $30,000 in recruitment costs and a loss of $300,000 to $400,000 in annual
gross billings plus additional expenses related to ancillary employment within
the community.
Health
care provider turnover is disruptive to health care delivery, continuity of
care and patient loyalty within the community. Other negative effects such as
low morale and decreased efficiency only add to the reasons to why it is so
critical to have an effective provider retention plan aimed at decreasing turnover
and preserving a stable health care provider workforce. Keep in mind that
retention plans will only be successful if an organization and surrounding
community are committed to it.
The
Midwest Retention Toolkit is an
excellent tool to help guide you in creating your own retention plan. It was
created by The Center and the National Rural Recruitment and 3RNet under
contracts with the Indiana State Department of Health; Minnesota Department of
Health, Office of Rural Health and Primary Care; and Wisconsin Department of Health
Services, Primary Care Office; and the Wisconsin Primary Health Care
Association through funding from the National Health Service Corps.
This
toolkit includes worksheets, sample surveys, agendas, and plans that may be
utilized with all of these types of providers although many of the samples are
based on physician retention. The tools ensure they are properly orientated to
the practice, integrated into the community along with their family and
recognized for their service and impact on local health care. The toolkit also
features a national resource section with websites and contact information.
To
access the Midwest Retention Toolkit and
begin building your retention plan, log onto https://www.3rnet.org/resources.
“Physician retention is more than
keeping physicians from leaving the organization. It is about retaining the
hearts and minds, commitment and loyalty of our physicians.” Kaiser-Permanente
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