The cardiologist shortage has made it difficult to recruit and retain top cardiology talent, but this organization has developed effective strategies to cope with staffing issues.
Setting your organization apart from others within the space through relationship-building, staying in touch with physicians and getting rid of red tape has been key for Cardiovascular Logistics, a national cardiovascular platform.
The ratio of cardiovascular patients per cardiologist is projected to increase from one physician for every 1,087 patients in 2025 to one physician for every 1,700 patients in 2035, according to the American College of Cardiology.
Michelle Wimberly, director of physician recruitment and retention at Cardiovascular Logistics, recently connected with Becker’s to discuss the impact of the cardiologist shortage, what will happen if changes are not made and what has worked for her group.
Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What factors have led to the cardiologist shortage?
Michelle Wimberly: We’ve been predicting it for quite some time and have really started to feel the effects of it the last several years. We’re having to be creative and stay in touch with cardiologists. First of all, get connected with those physicians early in their careers and stay in touch with them over the years, to be able to attract good talent and make sure that we fill our open positions. If you think about it this way, you have fewer physicians who are going into medicine, and that translates into even fewer physicians specializing in cardiology. Then you have training programs, which are accepting fewer physicians, for a number of reasons, but a lot of times, it’s funding issues. A program where you might have had three or four physicians in each class before, you might now have one or two.
Q: What could the shortage lead to if it is not addressed?
MW: You have two things going on. You have the aging population of people, and at the same time, you have fewer physicians able to treat those patients. So the supply and demand are out of balance. The other thing is that amongst the younger generation, physicians are looking more for work-life balance. Back in the day, you had physicians who worked these incredible, ridiculous hours and barely saw their families. The younger physicians don’t want that, and rightfully so. Both of those do impact patient care, with more demand and fewer physician hours.
Q: It’s one thing to get physicians on board but another to keep them. What strategies at CVL have been successful for the recruitment and retention of cardiologists?
By and large, the relationship building that we do is the most important, most valuable and most impactful thing we do. Getting to know these physicians early on, knowing what they’re looking for, knowing what their interests are, where they want to practice, in terms of location, is going to be able to set us apart. We can put an ad or send out flyers, but touching these physicians early and building relationships with the programs where they’re training with the program director, the coordinators and the chief fellows there, that’s the way we will make a difference and fill our spots.
It’s an investment, and it’s really hard to know your return on investment today when you’re talking to somebody who’s not going to finish training for a few years from now. So it’s being very strategic and very smart about keeping those candidates in your back pocket or your pipeline and staying connected.
Q: What are some of the biggest recruiting challenges you are facing?
MW: We’re all competing for the same physicians. You have all the recruiting firms, agencies and universities looking to keep their own physicians. We’re all trying to court and recruit the same physicians, so we have to be smart and try to set ourselves apart. It’s also about finding the physicians and knowing what they want so that you can retain them. Making sure that they’re very happy and fulfilled not only personally, but professionally. Those are some things that are a challenge for us.
