Foundations of Physician Strategy for Health Care Marketers

This course offers comprehensive insights into the strategic management of physician engagement to address the evolving challenges of recruitment, retention, growth and communication in contemporary health care environments. Participants will explore innovative strategies and analytics-driven approaches essential for building and executing effective provider recruitment plans. Through real-world case studies and expert guidance, learners will gain actionable techniques for leveraging data analytics, CRM tactics, and digital strategies to enhance physician engagement.

Format:

• This course is now available on-demand. Engage with the content at your own pace and start whenever you're ready.
• Past conference recordings and AHA webinars on physician strategies.
• Interactive components: Discussion boards, peer engagement, and resource access (tools, templates, articles).

*Those who complete course requirements will receive a certificate of completion.

Session topics:

• Organization-Wide Provider Recruitment Plan: Develop strategies and use analytics to support the strategic development of provider recruitment.
• Engaging Physician Communications Program: Create a comprehensive communication program to engage physicians effectively.
• Physician Onboarding, Loyalty, and Retention: Implement programs to ensure smooth onboarding, foster loyalty, and enhance retention of physicians.
• Referral Growth Strategies: Address competition, alignment, and access challenges to grow referral networks.
• Recruitment Strategies for Rural Providers: Develop targeted strategies to recruit health care providers in rural areas.

Six Comprehensive Sections:

This on-demand course includes six comprehensive sessions covering topics from physician integration strategies to advanced referral growth tactics. Access these sessions anytime that fits your schedule.

• Provider Integration:  A holistic approach to physician recruitment
• Communication Preferences Among Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, & PAs
• Building an Organization-Wide Provider Recruitment Plan: Strategies and Analytics to Support Strategic Development 
• Referral Growth Strategies: Taking on Competition, Alignment and Access Challenges
• Understanding Rural Physician Recruitment: A Marketer's Guide
• Accessing Primary Care: It’s Everyone’s Business

SESSION 1
Title: Communication Preferences Among Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, & PAs
 
Speakers: 
Allie Livingston 
Communications Manager,
Lake Charles Memorial Health System

Cheryl Davis-Little
Physician Recruiter
Lake Charles Memorial Health System

Retention efforts begin far before a contract of employment is signed by a physician. In today's competitive landscape for physician recruitment, the traditional methods of hiring and onboarding are proving insufficient for long-term retention, leading to high turnover costs for health care organizations. This session delves into innovative strategies to fully integrate physicians, and even their families, into the organization and community from the initial contact, fostering trust and dedication.
Participants will gain insights from real-life examples of process changes and cultural shifts within organizations that align recruitment practices with long-term retention goals. By emphasizing the integration of physicians into the organizational culture and community, attendees will learn how to build a team of committed providers who contribute to a positive recruiting environment.

Learning Objectives:
1.    Recognize the impact of physician turnover within an organization and the crucial role of marketing and communications teams in retaining high-quality providers.
2.    Explain "Provider Integration" as a comprehensive approach to recruitment and onboarding that fosters long-term physician retention.
3.    Analyze successful case studies and lessons learned to identify key aspects of physician integration, including cultural fit, family satisfaction, and professional development support.

SESSION 2
Title: Communication Preferences Among Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, & PAs

Speakers: 
Daniel Weinbach, 
President & CEO
The Weinbach Group, Inc.

Nathan Lenyszyn
VP of Marketing,
HealthLink Dimensions

The pandemic significantly altered how health care providers access information, reducing in-person interactions and increasing the use of electronic communications. As we move beyond the pandemic, providers have adopted new methods for information gathering, blending pre-pandemic communication approaches with modern digital practices. This session will present new research on providers’ communication preferences, gathered from surveys of physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants, revealing how they prefer to receive information and what topics matter most to them.
Attendees will learn about the most effective communication channels, social media platforms, media types, and formats for engaging providers, as well as the specific preferences of nurse practitioners and physician assistants. The session will equip participants with the data needed to confidently plan and implement provider-facing communication programs aimed at growing referrals, improving hospital reputations, deploying professional education, and enhancing provider engagement.

Learning Objectives:
1.    Participants will be able to better plan provider outreach programs – regardless of the programs’ objectives – with knowledge of which communications approaches their professional target audiences are most likely to embrace.
2.    Participants will be able to design and deploy provider outreach programs that more effectively recognize the role of physician extenders, i.e., nurse practitioners and physician assistants, and the influence these professionals have in clinical decision-making.
3.    Participants will be able to select communications channels and platforms more effectively based on the type of provider they need to reach and based on the goal of their outreach to these providers.

SESSION 3
Title: Building an Organization-Wide Provider Recruitment Plan: Strategies and Analytics to Support Strategic Development

Speaker: 
Travis Ansel
CEO
HSG Advisors

Provider recruitment is a significant strategic challenge for health systems, requiring a balance between community needs, strategic goals, and financial sustainability amidst provider shortages and intense competition. This session will explore the creation and execution of a comprehensive Provider Recruitment Plan, utilizing data analytics to assess market needs, patient care utilization, and capacity versus growth plans to ensure effective recruitment and retention of primary and specialty care providers.
Attendees will gain insights from health system recruitment leaders on overcoming recruitment challenges and strategies, as well as industry leaders on leveraging data analytics for prioritizing and annually updating recruitment plans. This session will provide a strategic vision to build consensus within health systems and optimize recruitment efforts for long-term success.

Learning Objectives:
1.    Understand the balance between meeting community needs and strategic goals in provider recruitment.
2.    Learn how to utilize data analytics to assess market needs and patient care utilization.
3.    Develop strategies to create, prioritize, and update a comprehensive Provider Recruitment Plan annually.

SESSION 4
Title: Referral Growth Strategies: Taking on Competition, Alignment and Access Challenges

Speaker: 
Susan Boydell
Partner
Barlow/McCarthy

Discover innovative strategies to tackle the challenges of a tightening market, fierce competition, and the need to grow referrals. Join us to explore how program leaders are revolutionizing physician relations, business planning, talent development, and infrastructure enhancement to succeed in this demanding landscape. Gain valuable insights and practical tools to thrive in the dynamic world of referral development.

Learning Objectives:
1.    Understand the strategic challenges of referral growth in health care systems today.
2.    Learn how to utilize data analytics to inform and prioritize physician referral and engagement plans.
3.    Gain insights on building and updating a referral development plan based on market needs and strategic goals.
 

SESSION 5
Title: Understanding Rural Physician Recruitment: A Marketer's Guide

Speakers: 
Kendall B. Watford, MHA, PCM, CDMP
Senior Campaign Manager – Human Resources
Office of Communications and Marketing
Medical University of South Carolina

Sarah Malone
Recruitment Marketing Strategist
Medical University of South Carolina

Are you a health care marketer looking to master the art of physician recruitment in rural markets? This engaging session will guide you through the complexities of recruiting top physician talent to underserved areas. You'll gain a basic understanding of the unique challenges faced in rural recruitment and discover practical, achievable strategies to address them. Learn how to harness the power of digital marketing to enhance your recruitment efforts and develop messaging that resonates with potential candidates. Whether you're new to recruitment marketing or looking to refine your approach, this session will provide the insights and skills you need to excel and make an impact within your organization.

Learning Objectives:
1.    Understand the unique challenges health care organizations face in recruiting physicians to rural markets.
2.    Discover ways to identify and articulate the selling points of your market, organization, and individual openings to appeal to your target audience.
3.    Explore digital marketing tactics to reach potential candidates, increase consideration, and drive conversion.

SESSION 6
Title: Accessing Primary Care: It’s Everyone’s Business

Speaker:
Rob Klein
Founder & CEO
Klein & Partners

Klein & Partners’ 2024 National Consumer Insights Study is a study among 1,000 health care decision-makers across the country that focused on consumers perceptions of and interactions with all things health care related.  This presentation will focus on primary care decisions and access challenges consumers are facing nationwide.

Learning Objectives:
1.    Analyze the reasons behind consumers' choice of primary care providers (PCPs), their experiences accessing routine care, and their expectations of PCPs.
2.    Identify where consumers turn for primary care when PCP access is limited, the influence of COVID-19 on health care decisions, and the alternative solutions patients are willing to consider for routine care.
3.    Examine the factors that influence trust in physicians, referral patterns, and the impact of digital health care on engaging future target audiences.

Bonus! Additional pre-recorded webinars:

• SHSMD’s Orientation to Health Care Physicians Module
  Focuses on the role of physicians in health care systems, their career path, thought processes, priorities, and the future of the profession. Includes a guest physician speaker.
• Keeping Physicians InforMD: Building an Engaging Physician Communications Program from the Ground Up
  Communicating with physicians can be challenging. How do communicators balance what their organizations need their Medical Staff members to know vs. what they want to hear; on which platform do doctors prefer to receive information vs. what resources are available to engage them? Let's start at the beginning. Spoiler: research is key!
• The Other Side of Patient Acquisition: Driving Patients with B2B and Provider Engagement Strategies
  Many health systems look at acquisition through the lens of “direct to consumer” strategies and a myriad of marketing channels and tactics. In this session, leading health care experts will dive into new and innovative ways that health systems can drive patient volume – and revenue – through B2B and provider channels. Including a deep dive review of strategies ranging from direct company contracts, bundled care programs and physician/provider engagement hubs.
• Never Let A Good Crisis Go to Waste: How Marketing and Communications is Leading Change and Impact for “People” Priorities
  Ask any health care leader what’s keeping them up at night and the answer is likely “people”.   The workforce crisis is breaking down silos between marketing and communications, HR, recruitment, and brand, with Marketing and Communications teams being asked to lead and contribute in new ways, from recruitment campaigns, to culture initiatives and much more.   There’s no playbook for this. Brand, strategy, and experience leaders will share how they are creating a new ‘people playbook’ in response changing expectations, including expanding the role for Marketing and Communications to lead people and culture priorities.
• Referral Marketing: A Team-Based Approach in the B2B Space
  When a pediatric service line depends on referrals from adult providers, whose job is it to reach outside the health system to grow the business? Marketing? Physician Relations? The clinical team? At Phoenix Children’s, the answer is all three. Attend this session and learn about Phoenix Children’s team-based approach to referral marketing. You will learn B2B strategies that get results, best practices you can apply to your own service line marketing, and how to replicate Phoenix Children’s success by building relationships within your own organization that strengthen your referral marketing efforts.