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Q&A: Should I send out direct mail ads when recruiting hospitalist candidates?

Hospitalist Leadership Connection, July 6, 2010

A: Direct mail has been a primary sourcing technique for physician recruiting firms for 25 years. Recruitment firms, which are outside agencies used by hospitals, send out letters or brochures to get physicians to call in for more information. However, for the individual practice, direct mail is not the most effective tool.

Recruitment firms universally almost never disclose the actual location of the practice unless it is a major metropolitan area or a highly desirable area. They understand the goal of the mail piece is to get physicians to call for more information. When physicians call in, they know the physician has at least some given some thought to pursuing a new job.

This is how the recruitment firms populate their candidate database, although there is a smaller chance of actual candidate placement at the location described in the mail piece. Adding a legitimate candidate to the database—one who might be a candidate for a variety of opportunities—is the real value of direct mail. Because most individual hospital medicine practices are not attempting to build a vast database, direct mail loses its appeal. That is not to say direct mail has no place in the overall sourcing strategy of a hospitalist practice.

If a direct mail campaign is employed, here are some tips to consider:

• Purchase a specific targeted mail list. For example, if the practice is located in Texas, sending a mail piece to every candidate in the nation in possession of an active Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, or Louisiana license is probably too broad.
• Design the piece to avoid the trash can. Usually this is attempted in one of two ways: (1) create a very colorful, well-designed postcard; or (2) handwrite the address if possible to draw attention to the mail piece. In either case, anticipate that most of your pieces will wind up in the trash.
• Remember the goal: to get the candidate to pick up the phone. Do not provide too much information, and make sure the contact phone number or e-mail address is displayed prominently.

The above excerpt is adapted from Practical Guide to Hospitalist Recruitment and Retention, by Kirk Mathews, MBA, and John Nelson, MD, FACP, published by HCPro, Inc.

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