All too often, however, the rich data and insight gleaned from these assessments stops short of being utilized to its full potential. A robust physician network—arguably a health system’s most valuable noncapital asset—cannot be established solely for the purpose of meeting a need determined by a population demand ratio. When regulatory community need is the only input driving recruitment activities, systems may find themselves under- or overrecruiting for their patient population.
Instead, the information can and should be considered throughout a health system’s continuous physician network development process, providing quantitative support to:
- Expand new and existing clinical services
- Develop new entry portals for patients to access the health system
- Serve as the foundation that enables systems to achieve true provider network optimizaiton
Organizations that approach workforce planning with network optimization in mind are able to proactively develop a provider enterprise for the future, leading to thoughtful, well-timed, and resource-efficient programmatic growth. Failing to do so may result in lost opportunities for alignment with independent practices, gaps in the overall provider workforce, or ill-timed investments that don’t meet the strategic needs of the provider network.
