Tool 5 Mentor Selection Criteria Purpose This tool

Tool 5: Mentor Selection Criteria Purpose: This tool helps physician leaders identify and prepare potential physician mentors. We recommend selecting experienced physicians to mentor new hires. Practical experience is necessary to provide a foundation for practice, improve integration with the organization, and assist with personal growth. A successful mentorship program requires a formal commitment from prospective mentors to engage proactively and regularly with mentees for one to three years. Mentors must meet a few basic qualifications and agree to meet specific goals. Given physicians’ busy schedules and production-based compensation structure, some form of compensation may attract a stronger selection of potential mentors and encourage them to take the role seriously. If your organization cannot directly compensate mentors but has a “citizenship” requirement in the compensation/bonus structure, consider mentorship as one means of meeting that requirement. Limitation: A mentorship program is most easily implemented anywhere there is a critical mass of co-located physicians. The program can work for both inpatient and ambulatory physicians, but remain cognizant of the need for cross-practice but still logistically convenient mentor-mentee pairings. Available Online: To access an editable version of this tool, please visit advisory. com/pec/physician-onboarding -toolkit. Mentor candidates must exhibit the following to be eligible: • Employed at the institution for a minimum of 2 years; however, a department leader may determine that an employed physician is ready for this role sooner • Job performance rated “good” or above, with strong interpersonal skills and role modeling behaviors • Interest in the mentor role and ability to maintain confidentiality while simultaneously minimizing newhire turnover risk • Enough flexibility to meet mentor program demands and make regular contact with new hires Selected mentors must agree to meet the following minimum expectations: • Estimated mentoring time ranges from 12 to 15 hours per new hire across the first year; some mentors may be assigned more than one new hire • Minimum required mentor-initiated communication includes monthly in-person or phone meetings through the first 3 months, and quarterly through at least one year of employment • In person meetings are ideal, but webcam and phone meetings are acceptable when logistically the only option; however, mentors must be proactive to establish clear and open two-way communication • Maintain regular communication with newly hired physicians, their supervisors, and an HR liaison • Report institutionalized problems that could drive low engagement or high turnover more broadly • Organize a social activity and host the new physician and spouse (if applicable) in the first quarter, and offer a second social event sometime across the remainder of the first year • Participate in scheduled new physician cohort support and mentorship program activities to help promote program growth, as well as personal and professional development for both mentors and new physicians Source: Physician Executive Council interviews and analysis. © 2018 Advisory Board • All Rights Reserved • 36218 1 advisory. com

Tool 5: Mentor Selection Criteria Selected mentors must set the following goals when working with new hires: • Supplement orientation programs by helping new graduates and experienced physicians adjust, specifically focusing on non-clinical issues that influence satisfaction and retention • Help improve retention by quickly identifying issues and concerns that can cause new physicians to leave, and by helping mentees overcome them • Serve as a source of information and experience-based advice on professional issues; help new physicians navigate the health system and overcome difficult situations • Serve as a role model for new physicians to help them develop leadership skills, discipline, hard work, job dedication, honesty, persistence, tactfulness, dignity, and respect • Act as an exemplar of institutional mission and values while teaching service excellence skills • Offer new physicians unconditional support and an opportunity to work in a supportive culture • Give additional support to new hire’s supervisor as an integral part of the department “retention team” Health systems can improve the quality of mentor pairings by considering proximity, personality, and practical experiences • Proximity to new physician’s physical location is critical, particularly for community-based physicians. When practical, mentor pairings are ideal when physicians are from different practices (but still in close proximity) to encourage more candid conversations. • Predicting personalities that mesh well is more art than science. Look for some common ground to increase the odds of successful pairings. At its simplest levels, consider marital status, children and age of children, medical school and residency program, years in practice, age, and hometown or region as starting points for selecting pairs. • Pair mentors with new hires based on specific acumen or practical experience dealing with a new physician’s anticipated business challenges. Examples include anticipated technology adjustment challenges, financial management challenges, care variation challenges, and adjusting to team-based care models. • When an acquired practice is already established in the community, in many cases the physicians will not need one-to-one dedicated mentors. Instead, designate a single mentor to work across the established practice or across multiple physicians. Source: Physician Executive Council interviews and analysis. © 2018 Advisory Board • All Rights Reserved • 36218 2 advisory. com