Why Strong Vendor Partnerships Matter in Physician Recruitment

How collaboration, accountability, and shared goals drive better recruitment outcomes

In today’s high-pressure healthcare environment, physician recruiters are tasked with navigating workforce shortages, increasing competition, and growing demands from leadership. Achieving recruitment goals takes more than the right tools—it takes the right partnerships.

Yet many recruitment teams overlook one of their most strategic assets: the relationships they build with their vendors.

Moving Beyond Transactions

Recruitment vendors provide essential tools and services—like physician databases, digital sourcing platforms, and marketing support. But successful recruiters know that vendors shouldn’t just be service providers. They should be partners.

What’s the difference?

When your vendor becomes a partner, they act as an extension of your team—understanding your goals, anticipating challenges, and adapting their approach to support your success.

Healthy Tension Leads to Stronger Results

Strong partnerships are built on trust and accountability. That means being willing to challenge each other.

If a tool isn’t performing or a campaign is falling flat, you need to feel empowered to speak up—and your vendor should welcome that feedback. But the best partners also challenge you in return, using performance data and insights to help you think differently or refine your strategy.

This kind of push-pull dynamic leads to real progress. Weak partnerships avoid tough conversations. Strong ones use them as a catalyst for improvement.

Shared Metrics = Shared Success

Misaligned expectations are one of the most common reasons partnerships fall short. From the beginning, both parties need to agree on what success looks like.

Here are a few metrics to align on early:

• Apply conversions

• Views-to-applies ratio

• Click-through rate

• Time-to-fill expectations

• ROI and performance metrics

By defining these goals up front—and checking in on them regularly—you can keep everyone accountable and ensure your strategy stays on track.

5 Ways to Strengthen Your Vendor Relationships

Here are five actionable ways physician recruiters can build more effective, results-driven partnerships with vendors:

1. Treat Vendor Selection Like a Hire

Look beyond features. Evaluate how well a vendor understands your goals, communicates, and aligns with your organizational values.

2. Set Clear Expectations Early

Define your metrics, communication cadence, and escalation protocols right from the start.

3. Schedule Regular Reviews

Don’t wait until renewal. Make time for check-ins to assess performance and realign on priorities.

4. Address Gaps Promptly

Misalignment can derail progress. Address performance issues quickly, honestly, and constructively.

5. Invest in the Relationship

Your vendors can only help you succeed if they have the full picture. Share context, updates, and feedback regularly.

In physician recruitment, success doesn’t come from one tool or one team—it comes from collaboration across multiple partners working toward a shared goal.

When vendor relationships are strong, recruitment outcomes improve. But strength comes from trust, open communication, and a shared commitment to results.

If your current partnerships aren’t helping you move forward, it might be time to reassess.

Looking to strengthen your recruitment strategy?

At PracticeMatch, we work with physician recruiters to build lasting, productive partnerships. Whether you’re sourcing candidates, planning events, or refining your recruitment marketing strategy, our team is here to support your goals.

Explore our recruitment solutions or schedule a quick demo to see how we can partner with you.

Clint Rosser is the CEO of PracticeMatch. He has been with PracticeMatch since 2016. He has overseen several departments within PracticeMatch including Inside Sales, Career Fairs, and the Client Services team. Clint, along with his team, has helped elevate PracticeMatch client services to move past a transactional vendor relationship to a full partnership with clients. This has allowed PracticeMatch to build stronger relationships and work with clients closer to ensure they can achieve the most ROI possible.

Prior to Joining PracticeMatch, Clint has been in Client service leadership roles for over 20 years. Clint serves as an AAPPR Board Member for Strategic Corporate Sponsors.