Solving Healthcare ’s Labor Problem May Mean a Change in Strategy

Discussions about the uncertain future of the industry’s labor force intensified in 2021, as hundreds of thousands of healthcare workers left the field. Analysts and experts once predicted that the full effects of this shortage would be felt by 2030, but it appears that day may now come even sooner. More recent estimates have the U.S. reaching a gap of up to 450,000 nurses alone by 2025 — and that remains true despite the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projection that healthcare will add over 2.5 million jobs in the coming decade, outpacing all other sectors.  To navigate the ongoing healthcare labor shortage, many organizations have expanded their use of contingent workers. A 2021 Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) report found that there were 33 million full-time-equivalent (FTE) contingent workers in the U.S., and the organization’s May 2022 U.S. Staffing Industry Forecast update estimated that the healthcare staffing industry grew to $39.8 billion in 2021 (up 85% from the previous year). While this approach has proved effective in supplementing full-time teams to ensure continuity of care, it hasn’t solved all of the sector’s problems. Hospitals are hurting financially, and contingent workers have earned a reputation as exacerbating the issue.  A recent AHA/Kaufman Hall report projects that more than half of American hospitals will end 2022 in the red. The same report found that the increased costs hospitals faced during the peak of COVID-19 haven’t waned, a...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - Category: Information Technology Authors: Tags: Administration C-Suite Leadership Clinical Health IT Company Healthcare IT Hospital - Health System Healthcare Labor Shortage Healthcare Staffing Labor Costs Maria Luoni Medical Staffing Per Diem Staffing RightSourcing Source Type: blogs