You're Probably Paying Too Much For Physician Recruiting (2024 Update)

In 2017, we posted an article titled “You're Probably Paying Too Much For Physician Recruiting”.  That article has been viewed thousands of times, so we thought it would be a good idea to update some of the numbers to see if you’re still paying too much, and also to see if CHS Recruiting is still a good deal in 2024.  

For comparison’s sake, we have crossed out the 2017 numbers, but have left them in the article.

Right now, you may be thinking about hiring a new healthcare provider and asking yourself, “How much should I pay a physician recruiting firm?”  According to Forbes, placement fees are typically “a percentage of the employee's first year compensation package and can range from 15% - 25%” of the individual’s total annual income.  But what does that mean in dollar amounts?

If we look at Medscape’s 2017 2024 Physician Compensation Report, we see the average annual full-time physician salary across all specialties is $294,000 $363,000.  Even if we take the average salary for the lowest paid specialty (pediatrics) at $202,000 $260,000, that equals a placement fee between $30,300 - $50,500 $39,000 and $65,000.

There is certainly a cost to recruiting, especially in a field as competitive as physician staffing, but it’s difficult to see a justification for fees of $30,000 - $50,000 $39,000 to $65,000.  As technology has improved, so has the cost of doing business - but the fees that recruiting firms charge have not changed.  CHS Recruiting was founded on the belief that recruiting services should be accessible to practices of all shapes and sizes.  Our fees are much lower than the industry standard, but our services are not.  We find savings simply by embracing modern technology and cutting out unnecessary frills, which reduces our overhead and allows us to pass on that value to our clients.  

Most recruiting firms try to hide their fees or drag prospective clients through a lengthy negotiation process.  We do the opposite.  Our highest provider placement fee is for a full-time physician (any specialty) and is $10,000 $15,000.

CHS Recruiting is now in its fourth 11th year of business and we’ve seen exponential growth every year.  This is largely due to satisfied clients returning to us, as we have been able to present qualified candidates to 90% of our clients within 30 days.  As with many industries, someone is going to come along and figure out how to get the job done cheaper, faster, and better.  We are proud to be one of those companies.