MAY 22, 2007

Vol 6, Issue 3

It was hot in Orlando, but we aren't talking about the temperature! The NAPR 2007 Annual Convention was held May 2-5, 2007, at the Buena Vista Palace in Orlando. More than 260 attendees not only received the highest-quality educational programs available, but also the opportunity to experience Orlando hospitality at its finest. From the top-notch speakers and topics to the social and networking hours to a magical night with Shamu, the resounding echoes of the meeting were nothing short of fantastic. Highlights of the annual meeting included the presentation of the much-anticipated NAPR awards as well as the introduction of the 2007-2008 NAPR Board of Directors:

Jo-Ann Toldt Assumes Role as NAPR President
Jo-Ann Toldt was installed as the 2007-2008 President of the National Association of Physician Recruiters during the ceremony on Thursday, May 3, 2007. Toldt has served on the NAPR Board for the past several years as well as on several NAPR committees for many years. Most recently, Toldt served as President-Elect as well as NAPR Vice President. Toldt assumed her duties immediately following the NAPR 23rd Annual Business meeting.

Osinski Elected President-Elect
Marty Oskinski was elected NAPR President-Elect by members of the newly elected NAPR Board of Directors at their initial meeting on Thursday, May 3. In addition to serving on the Board for the past several years, Osinski served on several NAPR committees, including Chair of the Physician Compensation Commmittee and Chair of the Finance Committee. Osinski assumed his duties immediately following the NAPR Board meeting on May 3, 2007.

OTHER OFFICERS ELECTED
Tammy Jamison was elected NAPR Vice President by the Board of Directors. She has also served on the Board for several years, most recently as Secretary/Treasurer. Marc Bowles was elected Secretary/Treasurer and most recently served on the Board of Directors as Membership Chair.

AWARDS PRESENTED
Distinguished Service Award: Julie Sherriff was presented the NAPR Distinguished Service Award, the highest award given by NAPR, for her devotion to and leadership of NAPR and NAPR Services, Inc. This inherent trait that we share — the drive to strive for perfection — is one of the main reasons our Association continues to prosper, and the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award personifies these traits. Julie is dedicated to the art and science of physician recruiting. She has been involved with and actively committed to this organization since the mid-1990s, serving on many committees as well as President in 1995-1996. Julie continues to leave her mark on our Association with her creativity, perseverance, and vision for the future.

President's Award: Brenda Lewis received the President's Award for unselfishly giving of her time, knowledge and creativity to support NAPR and its mission. Ms. Lewis is someone who is willing to take on challenging assignments without hesitation; willing to speak her mind even when her ideas don't win any popularity contests; and willing to stand her ground when she knows in her heart that she is heading down the right path, despite the opinions of the rest of the group -- and she always seems to be right! Brenda is honest, forthright, and totally dedicated to the goals of NAPR.

Outstanding Committee Chair Award: Marc Bowles received the Outstanding Committee Chair Award for his hard work and dedication to the Membership Committee, evidenced by the fact that 80 new members joined the NAPR this past year. Mr. Bowles has spent untold hours over the past couple of years recruiting and welcoming new members, as well as making follow-up contacts with members who did not renew their membership.

Vendor Appreciation Award: The NAPR Board of Directors voted to present the 2007 Vendor Appreciation Award to Elsevier for its continued support of NAPR through sponsorships, exhibits at the meetings, and advertising in several NAPR publications. Elsevier has become the key sponsor of the NAPR/NALTO School of Healthcare Recruitment. John Baltazar accepted the award on behalf of Elsevier at the Exhibitor Lunch on Friday, May 4, 2007.

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Vendor Profile

Doc-in-a-Box -- Robert Epstein, MBA, President
By NAPR Headquarters Staff

1.  What does your company do?
Doc-in-a-Box is a database built with Microsoft Access for tracking your candidates and jobs using Microsoft Access. The program is used by both physician search firms and in-house recruiters. We can customize the program to meet your specific needs.

2. What is your position there?
President & Software Developer

3. What services or products do you provide that would be of interest to physician recruiters?
Doc-in-a-Box uses your own candidates and information obtained from any data source including commercial databases. As a relational database, Doc-in-Box allows you to enter data only once and see it in many places. For example, after referring a candidate to an opportunity, you can jump to that opportunity and see the referral (along with other candidates referred to that opportunity) without making additional entries. Jump to the client site level and see all opportunities for that site and all candidates referred to each opportunity.

You can link a candidate's CV or any other documents filed on your computer directly to the candidate's screen. Simply double click on the document title and it opens. You can also retain copies of e-mail messages sent or received within the application. You can track advertising, candidate travel and search firm expenses and allocate these expenses to one or more opportunities.

The program can be customized to meet your specific needs. Hospitals with physician relations program and those which manage employed physicians have found this feature useful.

4. Please provide a brief profile about yourself.
I served as a hospital pharmacist in the U.S. Public Health Service which included a couple of years on an Indian Reservation in North Dakota. My last assignment in the USPHS was with the National Health Service Corps program placing physician and other providers in shortage areas throughout the Pacific Northwest Region. I think of this as doing the TV program Northern Exposure before the program was ever conceived.

After the USPHS, I was an assistant administrator for a large multispecialty clinic in Seattle and then I recruited physicians for a Seattle-area suburban hospital. It was while at this hospital that I developed Doc-in-a-Box as a means of keeping track of what I was doing.

I founded Doc-in-a-Box in 1995 and have been promoting, selling and customizing it ever since.

Robert Epstein, MBA
President
Doc-in-a-Box Physician Recruiting Software
P.O. Box 7192
Bellevue, WA 98008
Web: www.diabsoftware.com
Email: epstein@diabsoftware.com
Phone:425-641-2025

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Ask Miss Deed...

Dear Miss Deed:

I am an in-house recruiter and something interesting occurred to me regarding NAPR’s enforcement of its Code of Ethics. It seems that most of the emphasis is on the recruiting firms and their adherence to the Code. Is there no concurrent program which works in concert with the in-house people to minimize your Code of Ethics’ violations? It seems to me we can help.

Yours truly,
Very Curious

Dear Very:

It always takes two to tango. Can the NAPR enforce its Code of Ethics without the help of in-house recruiters? Absolutely not! But the issue may be slightly different. “Enforcement” is usually punitive whereas “adherence” is constructive and oftentimes more effective.

Here is where I am going. Suppose in-house recruiters, as a group, could wave a magic communications wand and decide collectively that they would, across the board, require that specific standards for referrals be met by every firm making a referral to a hospital or medical group.

For example, the in-house person would ask: Is the firm in possession of the doctor’s CV? Did the doctor gave permission for his or her CV to be sent to this specific client? If reasonable and pertinent information about the client has been given to the candidate, is he/she is genuinely interested? If the recruiter cannot answer “yes” to these questions, then the firm’s referral should not be accepted.

However, because of the difficulty in finding qualified candidates, there is often a subliminal desperation that overrides the above questions. Consequently, the referral amounts to not much more than the submission of a name. This leaves the lion’s share of the work in the hands of the in-house person and the firm often does little to earn its fee. In-house recruiters can have a significant impact on whether or not recruiting firms “adhere” to the Code of Ethics. I think the help would be greatly appreciated.

Miss Deed

Miss Deed is an expert on all things ethical, and is ready to answer your questions. All questions to Miss Deed must be accompanied by the individual's name, telephone, and e-mail address. If the individual does not want his or her name published, we will publish the question with the statement: "Name Withheld by Request." No questions will be considered without verifying who the sender is. Send your questions to Miss Deed at the following e-mail address: DearMissDeed@napr.org and your question may appear in an upcoming NewsFlash!