The current physician hiring atmosphere is competitive — so most healthcare organizations are adding incentives to contracts to sweeten the deal.
For example, almost all of 2016 recruiting assignments conducted by Irving, Texas-based physician search firm Merritt Hawkins included a relocation allowance, up 11 percentage points from the portion of contracts that offered relocation benefits in 2015. Merritt Hawkins bases its information on a survey of more than 3,300 placements between April 2015 and March 2016.
So just how much is the average relocation allowance in 2016? A cool $10,226 for physicians and $8,649 for nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Though relocation bonuses are common, Merritt Hawkins noted some even more common incentives healthcare organizations are offering.
To help compare and differentiate your physician contracts, here are the six most common physician recruiting incentives organizations are using to pull in top talent, according to Merritt Hawkins' "2016 Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives."
1. Health insurance — used in 98 percent of 2016 recruiting assignments
2. Malpractice insurance — 98 percent
3. Disability — 97 percent
4. Retirement — 96 percent
5. Relocation bonuses — 95 percent
6. Signing bonuses — 77 percent
Less common, but also notable was educational loan forgiveness, which was present in 26 percent of contracts.
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