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Finding A Group Practice Administrator - New Talent Rescues Midwest Group
This case study is an actual account of a Healthcare Executive Search Division client engagement. Names have been changed to ensure the healthcare organizations' anonymity in today's highly competitive marketplace.
Situational Analysis
This Healthcare Executive Search Division client was an eight-physician primary care group located in a rural Illinois community. They were an independent practice with close ties to the hospital. Specialty care was being referred to a larger community about 30 minutes away. The medical group practice wanted to build a multi-specialty group of 20 physicians over a 3 to 4 year period. The medical group practice was not doing well financially and was in debt to the extent that a representative from the bank attended the group's board meetings. A few of the physicians were making below the 25th percentile in physician compensation.
The Healthcare Executive Search Division of Cejka Search was retained to recruit a new medical group practice administrator. Finding a medical group practice administrator was not an easy task. Key goals for the new practice administrator included making a quick impact on the financial situation, increasing the physician's income, and growing the group to include specialists over a 3 to 4 year period.
Challenge
The ideal practice administrator candidate for this position had to have ambition and a belief in their own ability to affect a significant change in this medical group. The leading physician executive had a strong personality and would only have respected someone with an assertive personality. On the other hand the rest of the physicians in the group practice were significantly more laid back and would have been put off by an overly assertive personality. In addition, the physicians who had not developed a strong practice and had abnormally low income levels were opposed to hiring a professional practice administrator who would be hired at a salary greater than their own.
It was vital for this group that we find a medical group practice administrator with strong financial skills, business development, vision, leadership and a strong but diplomatic approach. Our challenge was to find someone early enough in their career to fit our income level but with the potential to lead a group that would grow to a much larger size.
Cejka Search's Customized Approach/Methodology
In our initial site visit we had individual meetings with the physicians where we uncovered the reluctance of a few physicians to hire a practice administrator at a competitive income level. In speaking with the physicians, our Healthcare Executive Search Division helped educate them on how the right medical group practice administrator could improve their financial situation and ultimately pay for him/herself. Once we had agreement on the administrator's income and the assurance that the doubting physicians would not sabotage the interviews, we initiated the search process. Our slate of five candidates consisted of individuals sourced through networking and our own proprietary database. Each candidate had a history of successful financial turnarounds and had the appropriate interpersonal skills.
Outcomes:
The medical group practice administrator of choice was a young up and comer who had already developed a strong history of financial success in group practices. He was originally from a community only 30 minutes away and wanted to make the area his home again. He viewed this practice as a wonderful opportunity to further expand his skills as an administrator and he was excited at the prospect of growing a group. In addition, his personality was very upbeat and energetic, which was encouraging to a group that was rapidly getting down on themselves. He was able to quickly bond with all the personality types of the group and gain their trust.
Although the final choice was easy, the income offer became an issue again. We had to reanalyze our site visit discussions so we could make the candidate a competitive offer. To address the concerns of the lower paid physicians we suggested making an offer with three choices consisting of different combinations of salary and bonus potential. Because the candidate had thoroughly researched the group and was confident of his own abilities he chose the lower salary and highest bonus potential. This turned out to be a wise choice. By the end of his first year he had reached all of his goals and turned the group around financially.
For more information about our Healthcare Executive Search services or about recruiting a medical group practice administrator, please contact us at 800.678.7858 or by e-mail at info@cejkasearch.com.