QUESTION:    We are a rural hospital that has difficulty recruiting physicians for certain specialties.  To help with recruitment, we are actively seeking to engage physician recruiters to bring needed physicians to our hospital.  The physician recruiters that would like to work with us all have proposed different contractual terms for their services.  What should we be looking for or insist on including in these agreements with the physician recruiters?

ANSWER:    Some physician recruiters will offer bare bones recruitment agreements and “guarantee” a physician’s placement for a limited period of time, such as 30 days.  We recommend, at a minimum, a stronger “guarantee” in any agreement with a physician recruiter.  For example, the agreement should specify that if a physician candidate for whom the recruiter has been paid fails to commence a medical practice per the employment agreement or if the employment agreement is for any reason terminated within one year of the commencement date, then the recruiter will conduct a new search at no additional fee for a period of six months to provide a suitable replacement candidate.  If the recruiter fails to provide a replacement candidate, the agreement should obligate the recruiter to refund the fee paid for its recruitment efforts.

In the Simpson v. Beaver Dam Cmty. Hosp., Inc. case, the employer paid the physician recruiter $12,000 after the physician accepted the offer of employment even though the credentialing process for medical staff appointment and clinical privileges was not complete.  Ultimately, the physician was not appointed to the medical staff or granted clinical privileges and his employment did not go forward.  Using a strong “guarantee” in agreements with physician recruiters can help eliminate situations like these when the employer, per an unfavorable agreement, would otherwise be on the hook for a significant sum because of the recruitment of an unsuitable candidate.

We also recommend that the agreement include a “position description” attachment, which the recruiter will provide to the candidate.  The position description outlines the duties and obligations that will be set forth in the employment agreement.  The position description serves the primary purpose of informing both the recruiter and the candidate of the expectations for employment.  Ideally, outlining these in a position description and requiring the recruiter to present it to any candidate will minimize the chances that the recruiter will present candidates who are unable to meet the expectations and will also save both time and money for the employer.

For more information on physician recruitment and other essential topics related to physician employment, please join Henry Casale, Rachel Remaley, and Charles Chulack for the Institute on Employed Physicians and Their Impact on the Medical Staff in New York, New York on December 4-6, 2014.