2024 Review: Key Trends Shaping the Physician and APP Recruiting Market
In the recently published 2024 Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives, now in its 31st year, data tracked from AMN Healthcare recruiting engagements over the past year paints a vivid picture of the current talent acquisition landscape for healthcare employers.
The reported findings offer an in-depth overview of the current physician and APP recruiting market, including which types of physicians and APPs are in the greatest demand and which are the most challenging to recruit, amongst other key factors.
Cautious Optimism? A Snapshot of Current Physician and APP Supply and Demand
In its March 2024 report, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) offers a degree of optimism--previously forecasting a shortage of 124,000 physicians by 2034—projecting a significantly decreased physician shortage (86,000) by 2036.
However, the current numbers will require some significant factors falling into place. The report cautions that the reduced shortage numbers are based on “the hypothetical future growth in the number of medical residency positions nationwide,” without such, the forecasted shortages could be significantly higher.
The report further notes that “if communities underserved by the nation’s health care system could obtain care at the same rate as populations with better access to care, the nation would need approximately 202,800 more physicians as of 2021.”
In effect, the AAMC suggests that it is only the low rate at which residents of financially challenged or isolated communities are able to obtain physician services that keeps the physician shortage from being exponentially worse.
An Aging and Growing Population
With physician and advanced practitioner supply teetering in the balance, demand for their services continues to skyrocket. The longstanding factors that drive demand for doctors continue to be population growth and population aging:
By 2036, the U.S. population is projected to grow by 8.4%, while the population aged 65 and
older is projected to grow by 34.1% and the population 75 and older is projected to grow by
54.7%, according to the AAMC. People 65 and older visit physicians at three times the rate of
younger people and account for a disproportionally large number of tests and procedures.
Physicians also are aging. Physicians aged 65 and older represent 20% of physicians in active
patient care, while those 55 and older represent 42% of active physicians. Taking this into account, a wave of physician retirements can be expected in the next decade—a trend that is already beginning to materialize due to both physician aging and physician burnout.
As a result of these and related trends, the AAMC is supporting passage of the Resident
Physician Shortage Reduction Act, bipartisan legislation that would increase the number of
Medicare-backed residency positions by 14,000 over seven years. A number of states are
promoting similar measures to increase the access their residents have to physicians.
Workforce Volatility Remains a Paramount Issue
As supply and demand continue to grapple in the physician recruiting market, it’s crucial to understand the sources of current and future shortages. While there exists a dearth of candidates in many specialties, high turnover rates caused by physician burnout have also taken a toll on fulfilling candidate demand.
According to the Association of Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment’s (AAPPR)
Physician and Provider Recruitment Benchmarking Study, 48% of all physician searches in 2021
were to replace departing physicians. This is up by 16% since 2018. One-third of physicians (33%) cited burnout as the reason for leaving their organizations.
The physician workforce is in a volatile state, as many physicians are reconsidering where, when
and how they work. In response, employers need to be flexible and competitive in what they offer to physician and APP candidates, while also putting renewed focus on retention.
Different Types of Employers Entering a Competitive Marketplace
The limited supply of providers is also adding to the difficulty many patients have accessing medical services. However, this has created a unique opportunity for organizations that have not traditionally been active in significant levels of physician and APP recruiting.
These organizations are developing models of care intended to improve patient access and to enhance patient experience. All of them now actively recruit a growing number of physicians and APPs from a limited group of candidates. These entities include retail chains such as CVS/Aetna, Walgreens, and others, urgent care centers, telehealth platforms, insurance companies such as United Health/Optum, and private equity-owned medical groups.
Traditional healthcare providers, such as acute care hospitals, hospital systems, and physician-owned medical groups, now are competing with a growing number of “market disruptors” in the recruitment of physicians and APPs.
Did You Know? More than two-thirds of physicians (77%) now are employed by hospitals, health systems or other corporate entities, according to a 2024 report from the Physicians Advocacy Institute (PAI) and Avalere Health.
Stiff Competition for Qualified Physician and APP Candidates
With acquiring qualified physicians and APPs more competitive than ever, final year medical residents have been inundated with job offers.
The AMN Healthcare Survey of Final-Year Medical Residents tracks the number of times physicians in their final year of training are contacted by recruiters about job offers. In the 2023 survey, the majority of residents (56%) said they had been contacted 100 or more times, marking the highest percent receiving 100 or more job solicitations since the survey was first conducted in 1991.
Are You Staying Competitive with Your Physician and APP Recruiting Incentives?
In its 31st year of publication, the Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives has become a standard benchmarking resource used by hospitals, medical groups and other healthcare facilities to determine which incentives are customary and competitive in physician and APP recruitment.
Read the full 2024 report to uncover the most significant engagement and compensation metrics currently shaping the tought physician and advanced practitioner recruiting landscape. As a thought leader in our industry, AMN Healthcare produces a series of surveys, white papers, books, and webinar presentations internally and produces research and thought leadership for third parties.
