Private Practice New Hire Checklist
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Whether you’re a seasoned hiring manager or a solo-practitioner expanding their private practice for the first time, reference our private practice new hire checklist to ensure you make the best decisions for your business.
To help clinicians streamline the hiring process, this article, and the accompanying ‘Checklist for New Hires’ template, guides you through private practice hiring.
We cover key factors to consider when hiring, and provide a downloadable template that covers all stages of employing a new team member—including a checklist for new hire orientation and a checklist for new hire onboarding—that you can customize for your practice and save in your electronic health record (EHR) for future hiring.
Whether you’re looking for another clinician for your group practice or for administrative support, hiring for your practice can be overwhelming. That’s why it's important to follow a ‘Checklist for New Hires’ template that covers key areas you’ll need to address before posting the job listing.
Here’s what to consider when hiring a new employee for your private practice.
Determine the role you’re hiring for
The first step you’ll want to take is to determine the role you need to hire for and some of the key attributes you want this person to have.
As you go through your private practice new hire checklist, consider the following:
- What is the position title?
- What is the timeline from recruitment to hire, when do you anticipate scheduling interviews and when do you want to make an offer?
- What are this person’s key responsibilities? Think about where you need help in your practice.
- What is the salary range and benefits package you’re prepared to offer?
Note: You’ll want to consider having three times the salary in savings to make the hire sustainable. You may also want to compare your package with similar practices.
- Who is your ideal candidate and what are their key qualities and experiences?
- Does the person require clinical licensure? If so, will you consider pre-licensed graduates, masters-level interns, or want full licensure?
- If you choose pre-licensed graduates or interns, you’ll want to consider your capacity to provide weekly supervision and regular guidance, along with any licensing requirements to provide supervision.
Advertise the job
Once you determine the role you want to hire, the next step will be to put your job listing together and share it. Create a detailed job description along with the qualifications you’re looking for.
Then, take the following advertising methods into consideration:
- Will you post the job on your website?
- Will you share the advertisement in clinical groups or list-serves?
- Do you need to create social media posts?
- Do you create a listing on a job-site?
Your application process
After you post your job listing, you should begin to receive applicants—and it’s helpful to have your application process already established.
Outline the application process steps in your private practice new hire checklist by answering the following questions:
- What is your application process? Will you screen qualified candidates by phone first? How many rounds of interviews will candidates go through? Will interviews be held on-site?
- What is your shortlisting process? If multiple candidates are shortlisted, how will you make your choice? Will candidates be required to complete an assignment?
- How will you inform candidates of next steps, or if they’re not chosen?
Conducting interviews
Now that you’ve screened the applications you’ve received, it’s time to set up interviews with your top candidates.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- What are the dates you plan to interview candidates?
- Will you ask other colleagues to interview candidates? Who? Are they available on the designated interview dates?
- What is the interview process? If it is a clinical hire, will there be a second interview which allows them to demonstrate their clinical skills?
- What key questions will you ask to assess their suitability?
Verifying your candidates
An essential step to include in your private practice new hire checklist is making sure you verify your candidates’ background and license, if applicable.
Consider the following:
- How many references do you require?
- Consider a background check and the system you intend to use.
- Think about reference questions beforehand. It might be worth creating a Google form to collect answers.
- Ensure you include a deadline for candidates to provide references and set a reminder for yourself to check up on them.
- Do you need to check the candidate’s registration status with a licensing board? Is their license valid? Do they have the requisite licensure for the role?
- Is a national provider number required for the position? If so, be sure to include this in your interview questions or onboarding process.
Making the offer
Once you’ve identified the candidate(s) that you feel are a fit for your practice and this role, it’s time to extend an offer.
Here is what you’ll want to consider before you make that decision:
- What is your offer process? Is it contingent upon satisfactory references?
- Will you have a backup option?
- What does the offer include?
- Benefits: Will you offer health insurance, dental, 401K, paid leave, or training allowances?
- Salary: Do you differentiate between administrative hours and clinical pay?
- Supervision: Individual and/or group supervision?
Onboarding and orientation
Lastly, consider what your onboarding process will look like. Will you have an orientation day, or will your onboarding process span weeks or months?
It might be worth it to incorporate online training programs and schedule mandatory training for your new hire(s). You can also provide your new hire(s) with an electronic folder of the practice policies and procedures to easily reference.
Be sure to create logins for each system:
- EHR
- Payroll
- National Provider Identifier (NPI)
- Training program
If a new hire is joining a team, you may want to schedule a team meeting and a series of individual meetings for everyone working in your practice to get to know each other.
You’ll also want to schedule time to take a headshot, add their profile to your website, or share their profile on social media, welcoming them to your team.
If your private practice offers in-person sessions in a physical office space, you’ll want to take additional steps:
- Consider building access and arrange keys, security badges, etc.
- Schedule time to get their area, cubicle, or office ready and order any necessary supplies and furniture, set up a work phone/phone number, computer, and other equipment necessary for the role.
- Print, frame, and hang a copy of their license in their office.
Private practice new hire checklist template
You can download and duplicate this new hire checklist to use for any role you’re hiring —whether it’s administrative or clinical.
If you’re hiring multiple people at once, you can create separate checklists for each person. This way, you can keep their responsibilities, prospective salary, and interview questions organized in one place.
The “Checklist for New Hires” template includes all considerations we mentioned above and serves as a reminder and to-do list for your hiring process.
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