Test your Critical Thinking Skills: Tough Interview Questions

As recruiters, we are always looking for ways to ensure our placements are lasting hires. There's a lot we can do prior to an interview to make sure the candidate is qualified and has a strong interest in the job, but what are we doing during the interview to test their fit?

Glassdoor.com recently collected data from over 80,000 job seekers to find the toughest companies for job interviewees. (Read the article: 25 Toughest Companies for Job Interviewees) The top companies subjected interviewees to brainteasers, timed tests, and skills assessments to determine their fit within the company.
A sample question given was "How many hotels are there in the United States?" (In case you are curious, you can find the actual answer here.) The point of a question like this is to see a candidates' critical thinking skills and his or hers ability to think quickly under pressure. When interviewing someone for a medical provider position, we recommend the following question to gauge this: Describe a clinical situation that didn't go as planned and how you resolved it. The second part of that question is important because you want to know that the provider can find solutions to problems, not just get through them.

Here are some more healthcare interview resources:
Physician Interview Tips
Interview Questions for the Physician
Tips for the First Interview
Top 7 Behavior Based Interview Questions

Did our recruiters make the cut? See how we answered some of the tough questions and test yourself:



What's the craziest question you have been asked on an interview? What are some examples of great interview questions?

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Nurse Practitioners: Growing Need, Responsibilities, and Practices

     With the growing primary care physician shortage discussed in last week’s articles, there is a debate emerging about whether nurse practitioners can and should step in to ease the pains of the primary care physician shortage. In part one of this two-part blog, we discussed the possible concerns that could arise with an increased role for nurse practitioners. In part two, we will be discussing ways in which nurse practitioners can be used to help patients and ease the physician shortage.

     The current shortage of primary care physicians has created an increased demand for physician’s assistants and nurse practitioners, which will only increase as the shortage continues to grow. Along with the growing demand for additional nurse practitioners and the shortage of primary care physicians, there have been a number of states which have enacted legislation which has expanded the roles of the nurse practitioners to nearly 80% of the average primary care physician. In addition, nearly half of all U.S. states have also created legislation allowing nurse practitioners to practice independently, without a supervisory primary care physician. With far fewer years of schooling and far less debt, nurse practitioners are currently entering the health care system at a rate of nearly five times that of primary care physicians.

     To recap, there are three major advantages of having nurse practitioners step in to help ease the primary care physician shortage. First, they are able to accomplish eighty percent of what primary care physicians can which means many patients can have their clinical needs met without seeing a physician at all. Second, nurse practitioners are able to practice on their own in 22 states thus reducing the number of primary care physicians needed in those states. And finally, they are entering the work force much faster than primary care physicians which would allow them to impact the healthcare workforce faster than primary care physicians could and ease the pain of the shortage.

     The growing shortage of primary care physicians is sure to continue to drive the need for an increased number of nurse practitioners. After reading both sides of the argument, where do you stand on this issue?
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Belinda Bowman is Director of Business Development at Fidelis Partners.
Connect with Belinda:
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Can Online Scheduling Increase Patient Satisfaction?

     Take Care Health Systems, a subsidiary of Walgreens, have introduced online scheduling into their care clinics. Take Care Clinics are in select Walgreens stores throughout the country and provide primary care to patients. The online scheduling option at Take Care Clinics allows patients to review the available appoint times, as well as actually book their appointment on the internet or through an in-store kiosk. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), about 20% of Family Practice physicians offer the opportunity for patients to request appointment times online, however, they still need to call to actually set the appointments.

     Even though Take Care Clinics tend to have quick, less complex appointments than other specialties, the technology is worth consideration. Online scheduling provides another avenue to engage patients through technology. It gives patients the autonomy to decide what time best fits their busy lifestyles and increases patient satisfaction.

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The Importance of Board Certification

A Note from Medestar’s Vice President:

     The importance of Board Certification has increased 10 fold over the past 10 years I have spent in the locum industry. In 2001, approximately 1 out of every 10 facilities in need of additional physician coverage required Board Certification. Currently, however, 9 out of 10 facilities require Board Certification. Physicians who are not Board Certified have a much more difficult time finding a position, and I believe there are 2 main reasons for this:

     1. Hospitals and practices want to provide the best care to their patients and having a Board Certified physician shows that the physicians have met a minimum competency requirement and reflects well on the hospital since they have sought out the best providers. The same cannot be said for a physician who is non-certified. Board certification assures the public that board certified physicians have successfully completed the educational, training, and experience requirements of the specialty, including an examination designed to assess the competencies required to provide quality services in that specialty. This process serves to address the competency of the physician, not just knowledge. Board Certification further legitimatizes the overall image of the physician as well as the practice they represent.
     2. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has begun to offer additional incentives to physicians that are board certified such as an additional .5 percent incentive payment.

     So, if you are a physician debating whether or not to become board certified, our advice is yes, take the test and become board certified. You will open the door to many more professional options concerning where you can practice. You will also give your patients a sense of security knowing you have taken the extra step to make sure you have the knowledge and experience to treat them fully and accurately.

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Emergency Medicine Physicians and Medical Liability Reform

According to an article from Kaiser Health News, the number of emergency room visits rose by about ten percent, or 13 million visits, to more than 136 million visits in 2009. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates this to be the largest increase ever. One factor contributing to this increase has to do with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act passed in 1986. This act requires hospitals to provide emergency services to all patients, regardless of their ability to pay for medical services rendered. The law, in and of itself, has driven up the number of patients seeking out emergency rooms and thus the number of overcrowded emergency departments in the nation. Another concern for emergency physicians comes from the Affordable Care Act which will require hospitals to reduce their readmittance rates by coordinating care or be financially penalized. This means physicians will be pressured by hospitals not to admit patients who cannot pay because the hospital will not receive payment from those patients. On the other hand, physicians will also feel pressure from their own conscience, from the family members of patients unable to pay, and from the continual specter of lawsuits.

All of these factors have led some emergency room physicians to focus on a possible means to reduce the nation’s health care costs—medical liability reform which they believe will discourage defensive medicine practice. One of the issues being discussed at the annual American College of Emergency Physicians conference this week is how many emergency physicians would like reform that would include indemnification based on recognized guidelines, caps on non-economic damages, and medical courts where providers would be judged by their medical peers. One important piece of evidence against medical liability reform is a study showing the number of congestive heart failure patients discharged from the emergency department dropped by sixty-three percent between 2006 and 2010 likely due to an increase in concerns about medical malpractice litigation.

What are your thoughts regarding medical liability reform?

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How the Physician Shortage is Impacting Locum Tenen Physicians

Over the past few years, healthcare organizations such as

the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the American Academy of Family Practice (AAFP), and the United States Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) are projecting a deficit of up to 159,000 physicians by the year 2020. This shortage, in part, seems to be linked to the Medicare funding cap implemented in 1997. That year, the federal government placed a cap on Medicare funding of hospital residency programs, and since then the number of United States trained physicians has only grown marginally. Marginal physician growth, however, has not stopped population growth or the population from aging, two factors which have significantly driven up the demand for physician services. Taking into consideration this shortage, healthcare facilities will begin to rely more heavily on non-traditional physicians, including locum tenens providers.

          Today, facilities typically use locum tenens providers for a variety of reasons, typically when gaps in the medical staff arise. Traditionally, healthcare facilities would use locum tenens physicians while employed physicians were sick, on vacation, or otherwise temporarily absent. Today, however, a survey revealed the most common reason to use locum tenens providers is while a search for a permanent physician is underway, illustrating how the physician shortage is directly impacting the demand for locum tenens physicians.

          According to a recent survey, facilities planning on incorporating a higher volume of locum tenens physicians may be in luck. The survey found around fourteen percent of physicians plan to work locum tenens in the future. Physicians of all ages work locum tenens, a majority of them, however, are senior doctors using locum tenens as a way to slow down or semi-retire. Significantly, according to the AMA Physician Master File, over one-third of working physicians today are over the age of fifty five. This means more and more physicians may embrace locum tenens in the future, thus benefitting facilities that may have trouble finding permanent physicians.

The use of locum tenens physicians is beneficial in many ways. For the locum tenens doctors, it is a way to focus more on patient care, rather than reimbursement or other administrative duties associated with employment. For the facilities, the use of locum tenens providers ensures a continuity of care for patients, as well as a continual revenue stream. Facilities can also use locum tenens providers as a way to prevent employed physician burnout by allowing their permanent staff increased flexibility or time off. As the physician shortage increases, effective healthcare facilities will need to embrace the strategic use of locum tenens physicians, and Medestar is here to help!     

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