The end of June signals the halfway point in 2023 and is great time to look back on the first half of the year and the trends that we saw in physician recruiting.  Here are some of our takeaways:

• Primary care is still highly pursued as health systems are actively recruiting primary care physicians to ultimately replace those retiring. Almost half of the family medicine physician population are 55 and older.
  • Hospitals and health systems are recruiting primary care physicians to partner with existing Advanced Practice Providers (APP). All States have unique rules regarding supervision of an APP and organizations are maximizing their primary care physicians. Specialties like psychiatry are also actively using APPS to provide care,
• We have seen hospital clients implement new care models using advanced practice providers to cover inpatient and/or emergency department to relieve primary care physicians from these responsibilities.
• In Q2, we saw two providers of physician services, envision and American Physician Partners, face financial challenges. These organizations provide hospitalist and ED staffing in hospitals and health systems. It will be interesting to see how these services will be replaced, either by hospitals employing these physicians, a private group or taking over at these facilities, or another national organization stepping into these facilities.
• Ob/Gyn continues to be a highly demanded specialty and a surprisingly difficult recruitment. 48% of Ob/Gyns are 55 or older and Ob/Gyns tend to gravitate away from obstetrics and focus on gynecology as they age. This puts the onus on practice groups and hospital groups to recruit Ob/Gyns to replace those retiring or stepping away from obstetrics. Ob/Gyn recruitment is also affected by the demand for laborists which are drawn from the overall Ob/Gyn population.
• Psychiatry remains a highly demanded specialty with the emphasis on outpatient care and less so inpatient care.
• In the world of medical subspecialties, gastroenterology is a frequently requested specialty for recruitment. Cardiology, primarily non-invasive cardiology, seems to also be highly demanded.
• Surgical specialties have not been requested at the same level as the aforementioned specialties. Urology continues to be one of the more sought-after surgical specialties as well as vascular surgery.
• Radiology is the hospital-based specialty most frequently requested by our clients.
• Lastly, the remaining effects of COVID and the rising interest rates have had a big impact on the physician recruitment market. Physicians are less likely to relocate than in past years, which has impacted recruiting.