There has been a lot of discussion lately on the Elite NP Facebook Group page from nurse practitioners looking for a collaborator. Many believe the process is difficult when in reality it is very simple. Do not let this become a limiting belief that holds you back from starting your own practice! It is just a small speedbump of MANY that you need to drive over during your entrepreneurial journey.
There is no need to pay an expensive matching service to obtain a collaborator folks… Simply post an ad on Indeed.com or any other platform where you can post positions that target medical professionals/physicians. Indeed.com seems to be one of the most popular though, just FYI!
Listen, all you need to do is go to Indeed.com and create an employer account. Once you do this, you can post job listings looking for whatever you would like, including a physician collaborator! I love Indeed for this as many physicians frequent this site looking for opportunities that can be done on the side, and being a collaborator is the perfect opportunity for many physicians.
Indeed will allow you to post a free listing or a sponsored one. Unfortunately, they usually will require you to do a paid listing for your first one. Per Indeed’s terms, they only allow free listings to be posted by “some” employers. How they determine this is beyond me, but I have always had to pay for at least one active listing at any given time and the subsequent ones can be posted for free. I have no idea why, but it is what it is. DO NOT SPEND MUCH ON THIS. Seriously, just budget the MINIMUM amount required, which I believe is $5 a day. This is money well spent if you are looking for a collaborator, trust me on this.
Once you post the job listing, you will get multiple applicants within the first 3 days. Many nurse practitioners get a dozen applications within the first day! Once you get this many applicants, simply pause the listing and stop paying for it. It will not take long, I guarantee it.
When you create the listing, it will ask you for the location of the job. This is where it can get tricky depending on your state’s requirements, so you will have 2 options:
- If your state requires that your physician collaborator be within a certain geographical range from your practice, then post the listing within that range. For example, your city or a nearby city.
- If your state does not have any requirements where the physician needs to be located, then post the ad in the biggest city within your state or make it a listing that is “state-wide.”
Now, what should the title and the content of the listing be? Here is a template for you to use if you are struggling with figuring out how to word this:
Title: Nurse Practitioner Operated Practice Seeks Physician Collaborator/Supervisor
Content: Seeking a physician collaborator/supervisor for a nurse practitioner owned and operated (insert service line) practice in (your city/state). The physician collaborator/supervisor will be expected to provide services to meet the states supervisory regulations and be available intermittently (if at all, depending on your skill set and the service line being provided. You make this call on how to word this) for clinical consultations.
The practice is (describe how long you have been open or if this is a new start up) and is looking for a physician collaborator/supervisor that is knowledgeable, polite, and a team player. This will be a very part-time supervisory role and the physician can be expected to be called for clinical consultations 1-2x monthly, if at all as nurse practitioner is (describe your experience/knowledge. For example, I called my supervisory physician 1 time in 2 years working at an urgent care… it was nothing more than a regulatory requirement and easy money for the physician… thank God I am in an independent state now.).
Compensation will be a flat rate fee of (insert amount). The collaboration fee will be paid monthly, and the physician will be a 1099 contractor.
Please submit your CV and a brief description of your supervisory experience. Thank you.
That is it guys! Keep it simple as this should be a relatively simple position/agreement with your collaborator. Many of you have been practicing for years and only need the collaborator to meet state requirements. Therefore, treat this as such. For any newer graduates, I would advise finding a collaborator that is going to be helpful as you continue to grow as a nurse practitioner.
Once you post this, expect multiple applicants and be sure to choose the one that you get along with the most. It is critically important that the nurse practitioner and the physician collaborator get along and are on the same page. Your practices success depends on this relationship. If you butt heads, it simply will not work out.
In terms of how much to pay the collaborator, be sure to review the other articles on collaboration HERE.
I hope this article helps those nurse practitioners that live in restrictive states and need a collaborator. I feel for you. Now, post that job listing, get started, and good luck!
