For today’s guest blog post, we have our own VP of Operations, Tim Ketterman, joining us.
From time to time, we will have someone from our team join us to take a peek behind the curtain.
Tim has been with AMP for 6 years and in recruiting for over 15 years. We visited about his past, what has kept him in recruiting and what he believes the future holds.
Our Conversation with Tim.
AMP: Tim, you have been in healthcare recruiting for 15 plus years. What drew you to this industry?
TIM: Well, what drew me to the industry is less interesting than what has kept me in it for the last 15 years. As with most things in life I came across this industry by chance.
After living and working in Chicago for a few years I needed a change. A mentor of mine introduced me to physician recruiting and put me in touch with the right people, and I’ve been doing it ever since.
It’s the lives that are impacted by some of the work we do which has kept me engaged for all these years. When we recruit a physician to a community in need it not only impacts the lives of that provider and their family but potentially hundreds if not thousands of people who now have access to services they may not have had before. I’ve seen this first hand, growing up in rural Kansas.
I was lucky enough to work with the hospital in my hometown and helped them recruit multiple providers. One of those doctors cared for my grandfather during a tough time. Care he was previously driving over an hour for. It’s easy to lose sight of those small things when you are dealing with the daily grind. It’s those things that help me stay motivated.
AMP: From your viewpoint, what major changes have you seen in recruiting from the time you started through present day?
TIM: Change is constant in our industry so there are a number of answers I could give you. Outside of the physician shortage, there are two things that immediately come to mind.
The first is how the candidate market has evolved over the years. We are now recruiting candidates from four to, some say, five generations of physicians. Each of whom consumes information differently and has different priorities when it comes to evaluating a practice.
In addition, candidates are much more informed when it comes to market value and practice type. This means the one-size-fits-all practice models are no longer appealing.
Second is the change in how organizations structure their recruitment process and decision making. With all the challenges in the market, medical organizations are fighting an uphill battle. This has resulted in some becoming more cautious and rightfully so. This leads to processes designed to hire the “perfect” candidate instead of the “right” candidate. The distinction can be razor thin, but could ultimately be the difference between a successful search and one that stays open for months or years.
AMP: You recently mentioned that physicians are seeing an increase in the number of offers they are deciding between. In fact, you say that the increase has been around 250%. What is contributing to this and do you see it decreasing anytime soon?
TIM: There are simply more options to consider which happens when demand is greater than supply. Providers are also more willing to explore multiple options because it’s easier for them to evaluate various opportunities at once.
As far as this changing, the answer is no. It would take an act of Congress to authorize the funding to open up additional residency slots, and we all know how well Congress works together so I don’t see that happening anytime soon.
Even if it did happen tomorrow, we are probably five to ten years away from those physicians hitting the market and even longer away from that wave making an impact on the shortage. This is our new normal in the short and long term.
AMP: Along the same lines, but outside of recruiting, what common issue is plaguing healthcare leaders you work with?
TIM: Great question and this is just my opinion, but at the end of the day I believe the leaders in this industry are all trying to figure out how to provide high-quality healthcare, at a reasonable cost, while providing access to as many people as possible.
I don’t want to get into politics, but I’m not sure any of the solutions currently being debated actually solves the problem.
AMP: If you could look into the future, do you have any thoughts about what physician recruiting might look like?
TIM: At Adaptive we are doing a lot of work with AI and machine learning with some exciting things on the horizon, so I believe technology will play a large role in physician recruiting, as it has with other industries.
However, we are still dealing with people who are going through two of the most stressful events in a person’s life, moving a family and changing jobs.
A good recruiter understands this and acts as a guide throughout this process. I can’t foresee that role changing significantly in the near future.
Tim’s Bio
Tim is the Vice President of Operations with Adaptive Medical Partners. He has worked in the retained physician recruiting industry for 15 years and during that time has a demonstrated history of creating great outcomes for his clients.
As our VP of Operations Tim is dedicated to the development and implementation of strategies to maximize our customer’s experience while maintaining operational efficiency.
In addition, Tim manages both our recruiting and business development departments and is passionate about working with our team to help our clients overcome the challenges of recruiting and retaining physicians in a shortage market.
