Background: As the field of Hospital Medicine continues to grow and evolve, many hospital medicine groups (HMGs) are expanding their scope of practice outside of the routine care of the hospitalized patient. Our HMG, a 120-physician team working at two tertiary care hospitals in the New York Metropolitan area, is no exception. In recent years, our HMG has dramatically increased in size, owed to expansion of clinical services and presence into the fields of QI, research, & education.
Purpose: With a rapid expansion & evolving focus we have made a pointed effort to improve our onboarding and orientation processes to help support new hires for a smooth & successful transition to our group.
Description: We have instituted a multilevel approach following the hiring of a new hospitalist:1. Onboarding – assignment of one non-physician administrator to monitor onboarding/credentialing process to ensure timely completion2. Mentorship – assignment of a colleague “mentor” to help answer questions prior to start date and ease the transition to our HMG both clinically and socially3. Pre-Start Date Check-In – Brief 1-2 hour check-in with administration 1 week prior to start date to ensure completion of pre-start date checklist of tasks (ID badge, parking, EMR training, etc)4. Orientation Shifts – Each new hire has multiple shifts as an “extra” provider, allowing a gradual clinical transition without all the responsibilities of a full clinical load5. Post-Start Date Check-Ins – formal and informal meetings with clinical administration at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months after start date to ensure comfort with schedules and metrics, appropriateness of clinical care, as well as a discussion of physician wellness and integration into the HMG6. New Hire Lecture Series – longitudinal 1 hour weekly lecture series given by key members of the division to educate new hires on key topics for our HMG (i.e. History & Expectations of Physicians in our HMG, Introduction to Metrics, Billing, Coding & Documentation, Co-Management)To assess new hire satisfaction with our onboarding and orientation programs, we surveyed recent new hires regarding several aspects of our approach. Surveys were sent to 32 new hires with a 60% response rate. 84% of new hires reported being Satisfied/Very Satisfied with the pre-start date onboarding process (contract, credentialing), 95% reported being Satisfied/Very Satisfied with the onboarding around their start date (Pre-Start Date Check-In, Orientation Shifts), and 79% reported being Satisfied/Very Satisfied with Post-Start Date Orientation (New Hire Lecture Series, Trainings, Meeting with Leadership). 79% Agreed/Strongly Agreed that they were ready to start working on their start date, 95% Agreed/Strongly Agreed that they felt supported throughout the process, and 79% Agreed/Strongly Agreed that the entire process met their needs as a new hire.
Conclusions: During our rapid expansion over the last three years, we have fine-tuned our onboarding and orientation process to help successfully integrate our new hires. This multilevel approach has been well-received by our new hires.