Defining a Process for Segmenting the General Practitioner Market for Rural Practice Recruitment

Abstract

General practitioner (GP) to patient ratios fall below benchmarks, particularly in rural areas. A marketing solution to this significant social problem might be to develop recruitment strategies differentiating medical practices (brands) and targeting different segments of the GP market. This article uses data gathered in Australia from practice managers, GPs, and recruitment advertisements to develop a taxonomy of family, job, and practice attributes that could be used to recruit GPs. Current recruiting strategies emphasize a mix of family, job and practice attributes, but better recruitment outcomes might be achieved by the implementation of branding principles that more clearly differentiate general practices with targeted recruitment advertisements. This research prescribes a path for future research on GP recruitment. The first step is to gather data on the relative and absolute value of different attributes within the taxonomy. These data can then be used to develop targeted marketing strategies for recruiting GPs to rural practices.