How to hire physician leadership

Identify your care model, current challenges and clinical objectives. Separate executive strategy, medical director duties, patient care and PC ownership. A title should describe the work rather than substitute for it.

• Describe the clinical services and patient population.
• List the decisions and outcomes the physician will own.
• Choose full-time, part-time or fractional hours.
• Define reporting lines, authority and resources.

Require credentials appropriate to the actual role and setting. Verify licenses and professional history with relevant primary sources, and assess specialty, leadership and sector experience. Do not rely solely on a CV, network membership or course completion.

• Confirm the licenses required for each clinical duty and location.
• Check any board certification or program-specific requirements.
• Review relevant leadership responsibilities and references.
• Conduct the credentialing and exclusion checks appropriate to your organization.

Use the same core questions for comparable candidates. Ask how they approach the responsibilities your role will carry, what information they need, and how they communicate concerns to leadership.

• How would you prioritize our clinical objectives?
• What authority and resources would you need?
• How would you handle a disagreement over patient safety?
• What competing commitments or conflicts should we discuss?
• How would you evaluate progress during the first 90 days?

Hours, specialty, clinical responsibility, organizational complexity and coverage needs all affect compensation. Compare engagements with similar duties. A monthly retainer, hourly arrangement or salary should specify the work included and how scope changes are handled.

• Separate physician compensation from platform and adviser costs.
• Document hours, availability and any on-call expectations.
• Agree on review dates, expense handling and scope changes.
• Have advisers review any equity, incentives and contractual requirements.

Give the physician access to the people, records and tools needed to carry out the agreed responsibilities. Set an initial plan, a meeting cadence and a process for escalating clinical concerns.

• Complete verification and agreements before work starts.
• Confirm responsibilities, reporting and decision rights.
• Agree on initial objectives and measures.
• Plan coverage, continuity and eventual handover.

Use the relevant state licensing boards to verify licenses and disciplinary information. FSMB’s state board directory links to those boards. For applicable exclusions screening, consult the HHS OIG exclusions resources.

For California ownership and clinical-control questions, read the California CPOM guide with legislative and enforcement sources and the Medical Board’s practice guidance. These hiring guides are general information; your advisers should assess your specific structure and obligations.