Physician productivity and call: what to settle before you recruit
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Set physician productivity and call terms before recruitment, so candidates can judge the actual work rather than fill gaps themselves.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
What happens next
- We review your role, responsibilities and location.
- Ivan or a senior team member will reach out soon.
- You meet a focused shortlist when qualified candidates fit the agreed search.
- Fees.
- No upfront fee. Pay only if you hire, under the signed agreement.
- Exclusivity.
- Set out in the signed client agreement.
- Confidentiality.
- We agree the brief before outreach. This is not a promise of absolute anonymity.
- No hire.
- No hire means no fee on standard searches.
What should you settle before you hire?
Physicians will ask how their time is measured, what they own after hours, and whether the schedule leaves room for documentation and follow-up. Set those answers before outreach. We use them to describe the position consistently and screen for comparable work.
Productivity is not one number. An outpatient physician may be measured through work relative value units, encounters, procedures, or collections. A hospital-based physician may spend substantial time on admissions, discharges, consults, care coordination, and handoffs. State the measure, reporting period, data source, and whether the figure is context, a threshold, or a stated target.
Call needs the same level of detail. A one-in-four rotation says little without the covered sites, patient groups, first-call duties, backup path, transfer decisions, weekend rounding, and next-day expectations. A physician considering your role needs to picture a difficult night and the following morning.
These choices shape the search pool. A physician leaving a procedure-heavy schedule may seek more clinic time. Another may want broader hospital work after a narrow outpatient role. We ask what changed and compare that answer with your schedule, instead of treating any reason for a move as a match.
What should you check before an offer?
**Production measure:** Ask, “What production measure did your current group use, and what work did it leave out?” Useful answers separate visits, procedures, inpatient work, administrative time, and quality-related work. **Report access:** Ask, “How did you review your production data, and what did you do when a charge or attribution looked wrong?”
- Look for familiarity with reports, appropriate follow-up, and a clear account of who resolved discrepancies.
- **Clinic day:** Ask, “Walk me through a full clinic day, including messages, refills, results, late arrivals, and documentation.” A useful answer explains when inbox work occurs and how follow-up is handled.
- **Call scope:** Ask, “What reached you directly during your last call rotation, and what was filtered elsewhere?” Listen for distinctions among patient calls, nursing questions, admissions, transfers, refills, and urgent clinical decisions.
- **Post-call work:** Ask, “Describe a night on call that changed the next day’s schedule.” Useful evidence includes a documented handoff, communication with colleagues, and a realistic approach to scheduled patients.
- **Escalation:** Ask, “When did you bring in a partner, specialist, or service leader while on call?” Look for sound judgment about backup and boundaries, not claims of handling every problem alone.
Where does relevant experience come from?
We recruit physicians from outpatient practices, hospital-employed groups, independent groups, academic appointments, and community programs. We also speak with physicians moving for geography or family reasons. These source pools often differ in their expectations for report access, support staff, call ownership, and administrative time.
Some physicians want a different mix of clinic, procedures, inpatient work, or after-hours responsibility. Others are reacting to disputed attribution, referral changes, or a revised schedule. We ask about those facts directly and present your current model without glossing over its tradeoffs.
Which hiring mistakes should you avoid?
A common mistake is publishing a productivity figure without naming whether it reflects work relative value units, collections, encounters, procedures, or a blended measure. Another is stating only a call ratio while leaving out sites, cross-coverage, transfers, weekend rounding, backup, and next-day clinic duties.
Waiting until final interviews to discuss post-call relief, administrative time, or access to production reports.
What are the next steps?
Give us the clinical mix, locations, patient population, procedures, scheduled hours, and nonclinical duties. Set out first call, backup, covered services, sites, handoffs, transfer authority, weekend work, and post-call expectations. Review shortlisted physicians’ experience against your clinic sessions, production measures, and overnight duties.
Define the daily work
Identify which activities appear in productivity reporting and which do not.
Map the call rotation
We turn that map into direct screening questions.
Recruit to the real schedule
Ask where their prior schedules differed and discuss those gaps in interviews. You complete credentialing and clinical assessment; we screen credentials, work history, and fit through focused conversations.
Should we state a physician productivity target in initial outreach?
State it when you can explain exactly what it counts, how often it is reported, and whether the physician can review the underlying data. Initial outreach can lead with clinical mix and call design when the number remains under review.
What should we settle for a physician splitting clinic and hospital work?
Define scheduled locations, admission ownership, consult work, discharge duties, rounding, and handoffs. Explain how those duties appear in reporting, particularly when hospital work consumes time but does not generate the same measure as office visits.
How much call detail should appear in the search brief?
Include enough information for a physician to picture after-hours decisions. Cover first-call duties, backup, covered patients and sites, transfers, weekend work, message routing, and the expected schedule after an overnight call.
How should we assess a physician who says they want less call?
Ask what made prior call difficult. The issue may be frequency, large coverage geography, unsupported night admissions, unclear escalation, or clinic obligations after a difficult night. Compare that answer with your rotation before deciding whether the concern is a real mismatch.
What if our productivity reporting will change during the search?
Say so early and distinguish settled facts from open decisions. You may have a clear clinical schedule and call map while attribution rules or reporting formats are still changing. Do not present a future model as final before leadership has approved it.
How can Healthcare Headhunters help with this hire?
Send us the role, where the person will work and what needs to change with this hire. We will ask about the work, not just the title. Share any license or schedule limits that could rule someone out before we begin the search.
Bring us the current schedule, production definitions, and call map. We will screen for comparable work and help you describe the position clearly. No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
What happens next
- We review your role, responsibilities and location.
- Ivan or a senior team member will reach out soon.
- You meet a focused shortlist when qualified candidates fit the agreed search.
- Fees.
- No upfront fee. Pay only if you hire, under the signed agreement.
- Exclusivity.
- Set out in the signed client agreement.
- Confidentiality.
- We agree the brief before outreach. This is not a promise of absolute anonymity.
- No hire.
- No hire means no fee on standard searches.
Keep the hiring brief connected
What do you get at each step of the search?
Our process for every search: calibrate the seat with you, map the market, research the real people, reach out to each one personally, qualify them in live conversation, then hand you a short list with a written brief on each person and support through the offer.
Search Calibration
You get an agreed brief: the work, reporting line, credentials, schedule, and offer you can make.
Market Mapping
You get a search aimed at relevant backgrounds, including people working now who have not applied.
Professional Contact Intelligence
We check appropriate ways to reach the people identified for your search. You do not have to chase them yourself.
Persistent Personalized Outreach
We explain your actual job and follow up with people who may consider a conversation.
Live Candidate Qualification
You see people we have spoken with about the work, interest, and practical fit, not an unread resume pile.
Candidate Intelligence and Process Support
You get a written brief and support through interviews and offer discussions. You make the hiring decision.
What are the fee and payment terms?
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. The signed agreement sets the fee and when it is due, along with the placement terms. We agree those terms before the search starts and before any candidate introductions. Temporary or contract coverage is a separate arrangement.
How long will it take to see a short list?
That depends on the job, schedule, available people, and what your employer can offer. We discuss those constraints before outreach and update you as candidates respond. We do not promise a fixed shortlist date. We check the job brief before arranging interviews. Tell us which parts of the role you can change.
What if a candidate receives a counteroffer?
We ask why the person wants to move and discuss competing decisions before an offer. A counteroffer can still change their choice. Keep the duties and offer clear rather than assuming more money settles every concern. Tell us early if parts of your offer cannot change, so the candidate hears it from us first.
What are the replacement terms?
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement. Ask us to walk through those terms before you sign, so you know how a replacement would work for your opening and who would start it.
What do we not do in a standard permanent search?
We do not bill standard contingency search by the hour or simply repost your job. Temporary coverage is a separate arrangement. Any retainer or different engagement must be agreed, not assumed. Tell us early if you need coverage while the permanent search runs.