Physician Vacancy Cost Calculator
See what an unfilled physician seat is costing your facility — by specialty, in 30 seconds. Every day a physician role sits vacant, your facility loses billable revenue, downstream referrals, and continuity of care. This free tool estimates lost clinical revenue, locum coverage cost, and total revenue impact during your search.
- Median physician time-to-fill in 2025 — 118 days (2025 AAPPR Benchmarking Report)
- Estimated $7,000–$10,000 per day in lost revenue per vacant seat
- Surgical and procedural specialties run longest — oncology searches reach 332 days
- Free, no-login planning tool for hospital CFOs, VPMAs, and group administrators
How the cost of a physician vacancy is calculated
The calculator multiplies your expected days-to-fill by the physician's daily revenue (billings plus downstream referral revenue), then adds any locum coverage cost incurred during the search, multiplied by the number of open seats. Specialty-level daily revenue defaults are derived from the Merritt Hawkins Physician Inpatient/Outpatient Revenue Survey, and time-to-fill medians come from the 2025 AAPPR Benchmarking Report. Adjust any field to match your facility's actual numbers.
Why time-to-fill matters for your revenue
A single unfilled physician position commonly costs a hospital $7,000 to $10,000 per day in lost professional and downstream revenue, with surgical and procedural specialties at the high end. Because the median physician search runs 118 days — and far longer for subspecialty surgical and oncology roles — the total revenue impact of one open seat routinely exceeds the cost of a retained recruiter engagement many times over. Shortening time-to-fill is one of the highest-leverage financial moves a hospital can make.
Frequently asked questions
What does an unfilled physician position cost per day?
Industry analyses estimate $7,000–$10,000 per day in lost revenue per vacant physician seat, with surgical and procedural specialties at the high end.
How long does it take to fill a physician position in 2025?
The 2025 AAPPR Benchmarking Report shows a median time-to-fill of 118 days for physicians, with specialty searches such as oncology reaching 332 days.
How is the cost of a physician vacancy calculated?
Multiply expected days-to-fill by the physician's daily revenue (billings plus downstream revenue), then add any locum coverage cost incurred during the search.
Shorten your time-to-fill
Ready to cut your search timeline? Start a physician search or email hire@physicianrecruitment.com. Our 95% placement success rate delivers qualified physician shortlists in 30–60 days, backed by MedicalRecruiting.com's 1.5M-contact healthcare network.