In a private practice, one physician can be a quarter of your capacity, and one wrong hire can strain the partnership for years. Capstone Recruiting Advisors recruits permanent physicians and advanced practice providers for independent and single-specialty practices, with a partner running every search. We work like an extension of your practice, not a vendor sending CVs.
What makes private practice recruiting different
Independent practices are recruiting in a harder market than they used to. Only 42.2% of U.S. physicians worked in private practice in 2024, down from 60.1% in 2012, according to the AMA (AMA). Hospitals and private equity-backed groups are competing for the same physicians, often with bigger guarantees.
What a practice can offer is different, and often better: ownership, autonomy, a real say in how medicine is practiced, and partners who know your name. The search has to find the physicians who want that, and make the case to them clearly.
Your practice deserves real representation
Large recruiting firms are built around hospital and health-system volume. An independent practice often ends up as one more posting on a long list, described in a few generic lines. Capstone works the other way. A partner learns what makes your practice different — your partners, your patients, your ownership path, your community — and represents it to every candidate. For a practice with a story to tell, that’s often the difference between a stack of CVs and the right physician.
The challenges we solve
- A vacancy is a big share of your capacity. Patients wait, and partners absorb the extra load.
- Fit is everything. A new physician has to work with the partners every day, and may buy in.
- Partnership and comp are complex to explain. Productivity models, buy-ins and ancillary income need to be presented clearly and accurately.
- Bigger competitors. Hospitals and PE-backed groups often lead with larger starting guarantees.
- No in-house recruiter. The partners don’t have time to run a full search on top of seeing patients.
How Capstone runs a private practice search
- We learn the practice first. Your partners, culture, patient mix, call, comp model, partnership path and community.
- We build the pitch with you. We show candidates the full value of ownership and autonomy, not just year-one salary.
- We go after the right physicians. Including the 81% of our placements who weren’t job-hunting, residents and fellows finishing training, and employed physicians who want out of hospital employment.
- We screen hard. You meet only physicians who are interested, qualified and realistic about the role and the buy-in.
- We help close. We coordinate visits, guide the offer and stay involved through the signed contract and start date.
Why practices choose a boutique firm
- A partner runs your search, not a junior recruiter carrying dozens of other roles.
- Built for the long term. Our goal is a physician who joins and stays.
- Fees built for a practice budget. Typically 20–30% below larger national firms, with most of the fee tied to results. See what physician recruitment costs.
- Your own client portal. Review every provider we submit, with CV and candidate summary, whenever you want.
- Every specialty. Primary care, medical subspecialties, surgical specialties and APPs.
Frequently asked questions
Do you recruit for small practices?
Yes. Private and single-specialty practices are a core part of our work, including practices with just a few physicians.
Can you recruit for a partnership-track position?
Yes. Many of our private practice searches are partner-track, and we explain buy-in, income and ownership clearly to candidates.
How do you compete with hospital salaries?
By finding physicians who value ownership and autonomy, and by presenting total long-term earnings honestly rather than just the year-one guarantee.
Do you recruit advanced practice providers for practices?
Yes. We recruit physician assistants and nurse practitioners as well as physicians.
Also serving: multispecialty groups · membership medicine · private equity platforms · hospitals & health systems