Questions

Questions to Consider Asking on an Interview

• How did you determine the need for a physician?

• What are the practice volume, patient composition, hemodialysis numbers, peritoneal dialysis numbers, and home Hemo numbers?

• What is the patient payer mix? Medicare, Medicaid and Private Pay.  This is more important now with the changes in health care. 

• How far are the units from one another and the office? How far are the Hospitals from the office?

• Do you Utilize Nurse Practitioners and/or Physician Assistants? Do they Round on Dialysis Patients- How many times per month?

• Do you admit your own patients or does the Hospital use Hospitalists? What is your average inpatient census?

• What are the number of consults performed in the office and Hospital?

• How long have the physicians been in the group? How many doctors have left the group or community in the past five years, why did most leave?

• Where did other physicians in the group train? Are they Board Certified?

• Where are the referrals coming from? What is the service area?

• What is the competition in the community? And in the Service area?

• What is the call schedule and how does it work?

• If there is cross-coverage, from whom, and if so will I be meeting them?

• What do you see for the future of the practice in its size and scope over the next three, five, even ten years down the line?

• What are you looking for in your ideal candidate, both professionally and personally?

• How long have you been recruiting for this position?

• Did you tour the Hospitals and units? If not, why not?

• What specialties are represented on the medical staff?

• Are their teaching appointments available?

• Does the group do any Research or clinical studies?

• If you use physician extenders, how are they utilized?

• When would you like to have this new physician start?

• What is the group’s overhead rate? What is included in overhead? Is there a prepayment component to the practice? What percentage is that?

• What can I expect my compensation to be in Year 1, 2 etc: It is suggested not to focus on financial compensation and benefits package (It has a tendency to come across as too self-serving and money motivated) however it extremely important to understand how you will be paid.

• What does your benefits package include?

• Is their productivity and how does it work?

• What type of Electronic Health Records (EHR) do they utilize?

• Does the practice have someone doing interventional procedures? Access Center?

• What does being a partner mean?

• Is there a buy-in to partnership and if so, how is it computed? If not, what is required to become a partner?

• Joint Venture Opportunities

• Ownership potential in Building and/or dialysis units

• How are Medical Directorships treated in relation to the practice? Shared or Separate?

• What is the cost of living in the community?

• What is the population of the community and service area?

• What is the socio-demographic structure of the community?

• How is the school system, if you have kids in school? How many of each type of school, teacher/student ratios? Nobody is going to tell you they have a bad school system so you need to probe that a little more. Prior to the visit, if schools are important, have the practice set you up to meet with some of the Principals.

• What types of recreational activities are available? What types of cultural activities are available?

• What types of transportation and airports are nearby?

• What is the economic condition and growth potential of the area? Who are some of the major employers?

• What is the proximity to major cities?

• What type of real estate is available? What is the average cost?

• Places of worship, shopping.

• Potential spousal employment opportunities.