Making the Most of Your Interview
by Lisa Vognild, Sanford Children’s, Director of Physician Recruitment
Taking time away from training or a busy practice to interview for a position takes a significant investment of your time. Including travel, most interviews will require two or three days of your time. Being prepared with a list of questions will help you make the most of your time during the interview and help you to leave the interview thoroughly informed. The following list will assist you in evaluating the position as well as later providing you a side by side comparison of your opportunities.
Questions to ask during an interview:
- Why is this position available?
- What are the approximate ages and number of years out of residency for each physician in the group?
- To what extent are the individual physicians in the group involved in medical non-clinical activities (i.e., sports, research)?
- What is the length of stay for each physician?
- Why did the last physician leave?
- Who is the competition?
- How many new doctors have started practice in this area by specialty in the last three years?
- How many patients does a physician usually see in a clinic day?
- What procedures are performed in the clinic and who performs them?
- What is the patient mix (financial or payor class, i.e., Medicare, Medicaid, PPO, HMO, etc.)?
- What are the referral patterns and are good consultants available?
- How many managed care contracts does the group currently have?
- How are the emergency rooms covered?
- What is the financial stability of the hospitals?
- What is the group’s average daily hospital census?
- How is coverage managed for weekdays, weekends, holidays, vacation, CME?
- What is the staff to physician ratio and the rate of turnover of employees?
- How are chart notes recorded (i.e., handwritten or dictated)?
- Is there a computer system for scheduling? Billing and accounting?
- What is the overhead (operating) rate?
- How are bad debts collected?
- Who makes the decisions about employee hiring/firing?
- Will I have input into the selection of my nurse?
- How old are the building and the major equipment, how is it financed, and what is the amount of outstanding debt?
- How often are fee schedules reviewed?