10 Best Physician Recruiting Firms for 2026 (Ranked)

Key takeaway: The 10 best physician recruiting firms for 2026 are: AMN Healthcare Physician Solutions (Merritt Hawkins), Jackson Physician Search, CompHealth, The Medicus Firm, HireUp Leadership (formerly Cejka Search), Pinnacle Health Group, Britt Medical Search, Pacific Companies, Rosman Search, and PracticeLink. AMN (Merritt Hawkins) and Jackson Physician Search are the largest permanent physician search firms; CompHealth, The Medicus Firm, HireUp, Pinnacle, Britt, and Pacific are strong national and regional specialists; Rosman Search leads in neurology, radiology, and subspecialty search; PracticeLink is the leading physician job board for direct recruiting.

Physician recruiting firms place permanent physicians and advanced practice providers with hospitals, health systems, medical groups, academic medical centers, and community health centers. Unlike locum tenens agencies, which supply temporary coverage, these firms work on retained or contingency agreements to fill permanent roles, from family medicine in rural communities to subspecialists at academic centers, and often support site visits, contract negotiation, and spouse relocation.

Searches take a long time and cost a lot. The Association of American Medical Colleges projects a shortage of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036, AAPPR (the Association for Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment) benchmarking puts median days to fill many physician specialties well above 150, and AMN Healthcare's Merritt Hawkins division reported in its 2024 review of recruiting incentives that average physician signing bonuses exceeded $30,000, with nurse practitioners and family physicians the most requested searches. Each month a physician position sits open costs a hospital an estimated $100,000 or more in lost revenue, which is why systems pay search fees of $25,000 to $40,000 or more.

This list ranks firms by physician search specialization, specialty and geographic coverage, fill rates, and fee transparency. For temporary coverage, see our locum tenens agencies list; for healthcare executive and leadership search, see healthcare recruiting firms.

How did we evaluate physician recruiting firms?

The 10 firms at a glance

The 10 best physician recruiting firms

1. AMN Healthcare Physician Solutions (Merritt Hawkins)

Type: Permanent physician and advanced practice search Headquarters: Dallas, TX Best for: Hospitals and health systems that want the largest permanent physician search firm with deep market data

AMN Healthcare Physician Solutions, the permanent search business long known as Merritt Hawkins before AMN folded the brand into its own name, is the largest permanent physician search firm in the United States and publishes the most widely cited annual review of physician recruiting incentives. It conducts retained searches across all specialties for hospitals, health systems, medical groups, and academic centers, with strong rural and community hospital experience.

Strengths:

• Largest permanent physician search firm
• Authoritative compensation and incentive data
• Integration with AMN locums and workforce solutions

Limitations:

• Retained fees at the top of the market
• Large-firm process can feel impersonal

2. Jackson Physician Search

Type: Permanent physician and advanced practice search (Jackson Healthcare) Headquarters: Alpharetta, GA Best for: Hospitals, groups, and academic centers that want a top two search firm with strong digital sourcing and physician retention research

Jackson Physician Search is one of the two largest permanent physician recruitment firms in the country, conducting retained searches nationwide with a strong digital sourcing operation and widely cited research on physician retention and burnout. It is part of Jackson Healthcare, alongside LocumTenens.com and Jackson + Coker.

Strengths:

• National retained search scale
• Digital sourcing and candidate marketing
• Research on physician retention and engagement

Limitations:

• Retained model only
• Premium fees

3. CompHealth

Type: Permanent and locum tenens physician staffing (CHG Healthcare) Headquarters: Salt Lake City, UT Best for: Facilities that want permanent physician search and locum coverage from one vendor

CompHealth, best known for locum tenens, also runs one of the largest permanent physician and advanced practice placement operations in the country, working on a contingency basis across most specialties. Its ability to provide locum coverage while a permanent search runs is a practical advantage for rural and community hospitals.

Strengths:

• Contingency model lowers upfront cost
• Locum coverage during permanent searches
• Large candidate database from CHG

Limitations:

• Contingency searches get less dedicated attention than retained
• Less executive and academic search depth

4. The Medicus Firm

Type: Permanent physician and advanced practice search Headquarters: Dallas, TX Best for: Hospitals and medical groups that want a national search firm with strong placement guarantees and primary care depth

The Medicus Firm is a national permanent physician recruitment firm that places physicians and advanced practice providers across all specialties, with particular strength in primary care, hospital medicine, and community hospital searches. It is known for its placement guarantees and annual physician practice preference surveys.

Strengths:

• Strong primary care and hospitalist search record
• Placement guarantees
• Physician preference research

Limitations:

• Smaller than Merritt Hawkins or Jackson
• Less academic subspecialty search

5. HireUp Leadership (formerly Cejka Search)

Type: Physician, advanced practice, and healthcare executive search (Cross Country Healthcare) Headquarters: St. Louis, MO Best for: Academic medical centers and health systems that need physician leaders, department chairs, and subspecialists

HireUp Leadership, the new name for Cejka Search, is a nationally recognized physician and healthcare executive search firm, part of Cross Country Healthcare, with a long record in academic medicine, physician leadership, and hard-to-fill subspecialty searches. It co-publishes physician retention and turnover research with AMGA.

Strengths:

• Academic medicine and physician leadership expertise
• Retained search rigor
• AMGA retention research

Limitations:

• Retained fees
• Less volume primary care search

6. Pinnacle Health Group

Type: Permanent physician search Headquarters: Atlanta, GA Best for: Community hospitals and groups in the Southeast and nationally that want a specialist firm with flat fee options

Pinnacle Health Group is a physician recruitment firm that has placed physicians and advanced practice providers with hospitals and medical groups since 1991, with a national reach and strong Southeast presence. It offers retained and flat fee search structures and emphasizes long-term placements.

Strengths:

• Flexible fee structures
• Three decades of physician search
• Strong Southeast network

Limitations:

• Mid-size firm
• Less subspecialty depth than Cejka or Rosman

7. Britt Medical Search

Type: Permanent physician and advanced practice search Headquarters: Smyrna, GA Best for: Hospitals and groups seeking a responsive boutique for primary care, surgical, and hospital-based searches

Britt Medical Search is a boutique permanent physician recruitment firm that places physicians and advanced practice providers nationwide, with a reputation for personal service, honest candidate presentation, and strong results in primary care, surgery, and hospital-based specialties.

Strengths:

• Boutique service and responsiveness
• Honest candidate vetting
• National reach despite small size

Limitations:

• Limited capacity for large multi-search programs
• Smaller candidate database

8. Pacific Companies

Type: Permanent physician and advanced practice search Headquarters: Aliso Viejo, CA Best for: Hospitals and groups in the West and nationally that want a well-established recruiter with strong candidate screening

Pacific Companies has recruited physicians and advanced practice providers for hospitals, medical groups, and community health centers since 1988, working on retained and contingency agreements nationwide with particular strength in Western states. It is known for thorough candidate screening and consistent recruiter tenure.

Strengths:

• Decades of physician search experience
• Strong West Coast network
• Retained and contingency options

Limitations:

• Mid-size firm
• Less academic leadership search

9. Rosman Search

Type: Specialty physician search Headquarters: Shaker Heights, OH Best for: Hospitals and groups hiring neurologists, radiologists, neurosurgeons, and other hard-to-fill subspecialists

Rosman Search is a physician recruitment firm that specializes in neurology, radiology, neurosurgery, psychiatry, and other difficult subspecialty searches, with deep candidate networks built over decades in those fields. It is the firm many systems turn to after generalist searches stall.

Strengths:

• Unmatched depth in neurology and radiology
• Subspecialty candidate networks
• High fill rates on hard searches

Limitations:

• Narrow specialty focus
• Small firm

10. PracticeLink

Type: Physician job board and recruiting platform Headquarters: Hinton, WV Best for: In-house physician recruiters who want direct access to physician and advanced practice job seekers without search fees

PracticeLink is the most widely used physician and advanced practice job board in the United States, with thousands of hospital and group employers posting opportunities and a large registered base of physicians, residents, and fellows. It is not a search firm, but it is the primary direct recruiting channel for in-house physician recruitment teams.

Strengths:

• Largest physician job board audience
• Low cost compared with search fees
• Residency and fellowship outreach tools

Limitations:

• Employer does the recruiting
• No search guarantee

How to choose a physician recruiting firm

Decide between retained and contingency. Retained firms such as AMN Physician Solutions, Jackson Physician Search, and HireUp Leadership dedicate a recruiter to your search and charge $25,000 to $40,000 or more regardless of outcome, which suits hard-to-fill specialties and leadership roles. Contingency firms such as CompHealth, Pacific Companies, and Britt charge only on placement, which suits more common specialties and systems that run several firms in parallel. Flat fee options from Pinnacle and others sit in between.

Ask for specialty-specific fill rates and time to fill against AAPPR benchmarks, the replacement guarantee period, and who handles site visits and contract support. Rural and community hospitals should favor firms with a track record in similar markets, and academic centers should look at HireUp Leadership or Rosman for leadership and subspecialty roles. Many systems also build in-house recruiting teams that use PracticeLink and a sourcing tool, reserving search firms for the hardest roles.

For broader clinical staffing, see our healthcare staffing agencies list, and for software that supports provider recruiting, see healthcare recruiting software.

How Noon fits alongside physician recruiting firms

Search firms earn their fees on the hardest roles, but in-house provider recruitment teams are responsible for the majority of physician and advanced practice hiring and rarely have the sourcing capacity to work every open search. Noon is an AI recruiter that gives those teams that capacity: it sources physicians and advanced practice candidates across the open web and licensing registries, screens them against role requirements, and runs personalized email and SMS outreach so recruiters focus on conversations, site visits, and offers.

Noon offers one flat plan with unlimited roles and seats, so a system with dozens of open provider searches can work them all without per-search fees. See pricing or read how an AI agent compares with a recruiting agency.

FAQ

What does a physician recruiting firm do? A physician recruiting firm sources, screens, and presents physicians and advanced practice providers for permanent positions at hospitals, health systems, and medical groups, and typically supports interviews, site visits, contract negotiation, and relocation. Firms work on retained, contingency, or flat fee agreements.

How much do physician recruiting firms charge? Retained physician searches typically cost $25,000 to $40,000 or more per search, paid in installments regardless of outcome. Contingency fees are similar in size but paid only on placement. Advanced practice searches cost less, often $15,000 to $25,000.

Which is the largest physician recruiting firm? AMN Healthcare Physician Solutions, formerly Merritt Hawkins, and Jackson Physician Search are the two largest permanent physician search firms in the United States. CompHealth runs one of the largest contingency permanent placement operations.

What is the difference between physician recruiting and locum tenens? Physician recruiting firms fill permanent positions for a one-time fee. Locum tenens agencies supply temporary physicians on daily or weekly rates to cover vacancies, leaves, and surges. Several companies, including CompHealth and AMN Healthcare, do both.

How long does it take to recruit a physician? AAPPR benchmarking puts median time to fill for many specialties above 150 days, and hard-to-fill subspecialties and rural searches often take a year or more. Notice periods and credentialing add two to four months after the offer is accepted.

About the author

Rey Sivji works on growth at Noon AI and researched and compiled this list. Have a correction, a firm that belongs on it, or a question about choosing an agency? Email rey@noon.ai.