Healthcare workers are crucial for good patient care. During the pandemic, they’ve worked incredibly hard. But now, as hospitals face new virus strains and a holiday surge, there’s a big shortage of nurses and other healthcare workers.
Many are retiring early or leaving for other jobs, and the shortage is expected to get worse. As more workers retire and fewer people train for these jobs, those who stay are being overworked and may burn out, causing even more to leave.
The pandemic has worsened a problem that was already coming. With the Baby Boomer generation aging and the growing need for medical services, shortages in home health aides, nurses, and lab techs were expected soon, with a lack of doctors by 2030.
We’re not prepared for what’s coming. Our concern is that the demand is going to outstrip the supply unless we see some dynamic changes occur.
Industry experts say personnel feel overworked and exhausted at this point; fatigue and burnout are palpable. Low pay, long hours, declining mental health, and grueling shifts were already pain points for healthcare workers.
Key Takeaways
1. Healthcare workers are essential for patient care and are currently facing a severe shortage.
2. Burnout and overwork are pushing more healthcare workers to leave their jobs.
3. PatientCalls’ medical answering service offers a practical solution by handling call management, allowing your staff to focus on critical tasks and reducing the burden of labor shortages.
Current Climate of Healthcare System Staffing
The healthcare sector is facing a serious staffing crisis caused by an aging population, increased demand, and high turnover among healthcare workers. These issues are made worse by rising burnout and workplace violence, especially for nurses, leading to a major workforce shortage.
Below are some key statistical data highlighting the health system’s climate:
- By 2026, the US will face a shortage of over 4 million healthcare workers, with only 1.9 million new professionals entering the field to replace the 6.5 million leaving.
- Over 60% of nurses feel burnt out, and 22% have changed positions in the past six months.
- The US will need about 177,400 additional Registered Nurses from 2022 to 2032.
- The most severe shortages are expected by 2036, with retirements continuing to rise, outpacing the influx of new nurses.
- 46% of nurses cite burnout as their primary reason for leaving, and 26% are likely to leave due to workplace violence.
- Only 32% of healthcare executives are satisfied with current patient-to-staff ratios, and 78% feel unprepared for a large-scale health crisis.
- Replacing a registered nurse can cost upwards of $50,000, highlighting the need for strategies focused on retention and satisfaction.
Addressing this shortage requires urgent action, focusing on retention, improved working conditions, and effective workforce management strategies. Healthcare workers and their management must clearly understand the root of the problem and develop strategies to combat it.
Workforce Management Strategies for Labor Shortage in Healthcare
Now, as the need for healthcare is greater than ever, demand is only expected to increase, and healthcare organizations need to address labor shortages in their continuity strategy.
Outsource to Qualified Service Providers
Outsourcing alleviates the pressure on overworked healthcare staff, freeing their time for more critical tasks. Plus, healthcare outsourcing can be a cost-effective solution to labor shortages.
Relying on a third-party service provider eradicates the need for recruitment, training, and other associated expenses, making it an economically viable alternative. Outsourcing companies can swiftly provide the required manpower to address staff shortages.
Healthcare call center service providers are trained to handle different types of calls, ranging from appointment scheduling to emergency situations, in the most professional and responsive manner. Outsourcing provides after-hours service, ensuring prompt patient calls and demonstrating the organization’s commitment to comprehensive care at all hours.
Utilize the Resources Available
This is an important time for healthcare management to be aware of the resources that are available to help address staffing shortages, according to the CDC.
Local healthcare coalitions and federal, state, and local public health partners may provide assistance when hiring additional healthcare personnel, recruiting retired doctors, or finding students and volunteers as needed.
This may also mean consolidating tasks and optimizing how your team of healthcare workers is operating.
Revise Your Staffing Strategy
Labor shortages in healthcare aren’t new, but the pandemic has made it critical for hospitals and nursing homes to be proactive. Start by reassessing your staffing needs and identifying gaps. Efficient staffing requires understanding your facility’s needs and using the minimum number of healthcare workers needed to ensure safety and quality care.
Consider using lower-level staff for simpler tasks, freeing up senior nurses and PAs for more complex cases. Upskilling current staff and new hires through training programs and mentorships is another option. Cross-training ensures that employees are adaptable and can fill critical gaps when needed.
Maximize the Use of Technology
Healthcare networks that adopt innovative workforce practices and new tools will thrive. Technology increases efficiency, accuracy, and employee satisfaction, aligning with the need to improve patient outcomes.
Using technology reduces costs and frees up staff to focus on patient care. Government incentives are available for facilities that adopt electronic medical records and other digital options. Telehealth services have surged, expanding the talent pool across state borders and easing workforce shortages.
Streamlined EMR integrations also make outsourcing easier, enabling fast, secure data sharing for tasks like billing and telehealth services, further cutting costs and saving time.
Technologies that are being adopted in the healthcare field in record numbers include:
- Telemedicine platforms,
- Remote home monitoring,
- Secure cloud tools for collecting and sharing data, and
- EMR integrations.
Boost the Employee Retention Rate
One main cause of shortages is the massive turnover seen in the healthcare industry. In 2020, the healthcare industry experienced a nearly 22% turnover rate across all jobs, which represents the second worst rate by industry.
Employee retention is an important issue to address. Proactive management is implementing reward systems for performance, better platforms for communication, more thoughtful shift-planning, and clearer scheduling.
Strategies should aim to retain existing personnel, attract recent graduates, and encourage skilled staff to stay on even as they near retirement. Consider strategies that will help prevent burnout and promote a healthy working environment.
Advanced Healthcare Workforce Shortage Solutions
The ongoing labor shortage in healthcare shows no signs of easing. Administrators and managers are seeking ways to support their staff and boost efficiency. Here’s how technology can help medical practices and hospitals navigate this challenge.
- Speech-to-Text Apps
These apps reduce paperwork by converting voice into text, allowing healthcare professionals to focus more on patient care. With accuracy rates of up to 85%, apps like Nuance streamline documentation. - Voice Assistants
Devices like Alexa enable hands-free patient monitoring and communication, reducing in-person interactions and saving time. This technology helps staff manage their workload more efficiently. - Telemedicine
Telemedicine allows remote diagnosis and care, decreasing patient load in clinics and freeing up time for healthcare providers. It also facilitates better coordination with specialists. - Portable Patient Monitoring Devices
These devices track vital signs on the move and alert caregivers to emergencies, integrating with EMR health systems to ensure continuous monitoring. - Queue Management Systems
These systems optimize patient flow by predicting busy times and managing schedules. They help reduce wait times and improve appointment efficiency with real-time updates.
How Can Call Center Services Help During Labor Shortage?
Call center services can play a crucial role in helping businesses navigate the challenges posed by labor shortages.
Here are some key ways in which call center services can provide support:
- Efficient Call Management. Call center services can handle high volumes of calls efficiently, reducing wait times and ensuring that customers receive timely assistance.
- 24/7 Support. Virtual receptionists can provide around-the-clock support, ensuring that customers can reach out at any time and receive the help they need.
- Multilingual Support. Offering bilingual or multilingual support can enhance customer satisfaction by allowing customers to communicate in their native language, making them feel more at ease and understood.
- Omnichannel Experience. Contact centers can handle customer interactions across multiple channels, including phone calls, emails, live chats, and social media messaging, providing a comprehensive and seamless experience.
- Extended team. Outsourced call centers can alleviate the burden on in-house staff, allowing them to focus on other critical tasks. This can also reduce the costs associated with hiring and training new employees.
- Scalability. Outsourced call centers offer flexibility and scalability, enabling businesses to quickly scale up or down as needed without the hassle and expense of hiring in-house staff.
- Automated Solutions. Medical answering services use automated solutions, such as AI-powered chatbots and intelligent call routing systems, which can streamline call center operations and improve medical office efficiency.
By leveraging these strategies, call center services can help businesses mitigate the impact of labor shortages, ensuring that customer service levels remain high and operational efficiency is maintained.
Related article: Discover Why More Healthcare Practices Rely on Call Center Outsourcing
Impact of Labor Shortages on Healthcare Systems
Labor shortages are creating ripple effects across healthcare systems, touching every aspect, from patient care to financial health. As hospitals and clinics face unprecedented staffing challenges, the consequences become harder to ignore.
These shortages aren’t just about unfilled positions—they’re impacting the quality of care, patient safety, and the long-term viability of healthcare organizations.
Below are potential repercussions of labor shortages in healthcare.
Quality of Care and Patient Outcomes
- Lower Quality of Care. Staffing shortages lead to longer wait times, rushed procedures, and less attention to patients, which can result in poorer outcomes and more medical errors.
- More Medical Errors. Overworked and tired staff are more likely to make mistakes, such as medication errors or misdiagnoses, putting patients at risk.
Financial Challenges
- Payment and Cash Flow Problems. Short-staffed providers often struggle with payment processes, leading to more denials, late payments, and increased patient debt.
- High Costs and Turnover. Replacing a registered nurse can cost over $50,000, highlighting the need to invest in strategies that keep nurses satisfied and reduce turnover.
Workforce Burnout and Turnover
- Burnout and High Turnover. With fewer staff, existing employees have to work longer hours, leading to burnout and job dissatisfaction, which can increase turnover rates and worsen the staffing shortage.
- Promoting Work-Life Balance. Offering flexible schedules and reasonable work hours can help prevent burnout and keep staff from leaving.
Factors Contributing to Staffing Challenges in Healthcare
The healthcare industry is currently facing a critical challenge in staffing shortages. This issue, driven by a complex array of factors, threatens the delivery of quality care and the overall effectiveness of healthcare systems.
The staffing challenges are driven by several key factors.
- Aging Population. The aging of the baby boomer generation has led to an increased demand for healthcare services, placing additional pressure on an already strained healthcare workforce.
- Increased Demand. The growing need for medical services due to an aging population and expanded healthcare access has amplified the demand for healthcare professionals across various specializations.
- Burnout. Healthcare workers, particularly nurses and physicians, are at high risk of burnout due to long hours, stressful work environments, and high patient volumes. This increased demand for nursing staff and healthcare staff, in general, is affecting healthcare administration, with industry staff across the board being asked to do more and more.
- Turnover. High turnover rates among healthcare professionals, with nearly 50% of providers reporting that access to care is worsening, contribute significantly to staffing shortages.
- Training and Onboarding. The training required to become a healthcare worker can be lengthy and expensive, deterring some individuals from pursuing a career in healthcare. Additionally, onboarding new employees is time-consuming for healthcare practices, leading to continuous onboarding processes due to high turnover rates.
- Uneven Distribution. Rural and underserved areas often struggle to attract and retain healthcare workers due to a lack of resources, limited job opportunities, and lower salaries compared to urban areas.
- Pandemic Impact. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the healthcare workforce shortage by increasing demand for healthcare services while also leading to a mass exodus of workers and contributing to burnout and turnover.
- Financial Impact. Staffing shortages have driven an increase in wages, forcing hospitals to invest significantly in recruiting and retaining staff. This has exacerbated financial hardships for hospitals, with a considerable number projected to operate at a loss.
- Technology Integration. Leveraging technology and innovation can help increase efficiency and productivity in healthcare delivery. For example, telemedicine can extend the reach of healthcare services, while electronic health records can streamline administrative tasks and improve communication among healthcare providers.
- Policy Changes. Advocating for policy changes that support the healthcare workforce, such as increasing funding for workforce development programs and improving access to healthcare education and training, can help address the root causes of staffing shortages.
Understanding the factors contributing to staffing shortages is essential for healthcare organizations to develop effective strategies. By tackling these challenges head-on, they can ensure the sustainability of high-quality patient care and stabilize the future healthcare workforce.
Boost Your Workforce with PatientCalls Answering Service
Labor shortages in healthcare are putting a lot of pressure on teams to keep things running smoothly. One simple and effective way to ease this burden is by outsourcing call answering to a reliable service like PatientCalls. Managing incoming calls can take up a lot of time, especially when there aren’t enough staff members to handle them. By letting PatientCalls take care of your calls, your team can focus on the more important tasks at hand.
PatientCalls is the top medical answering service in the United States, offering full integration with your EMR system and ensuring HIPAA compliance to protect patient privacy and data. This service is a cost-effective way to reduce the workload on your staff, helping your healthcare facility operate at full capacity even with fewer employees.
Here’s what PatientCalls can do for you:
- Handle all incoming calls efficiently, freeing up your staff’s time.
- Integrate seamlessly with your EMR system to keep everything organized.
- Ensure HIPAA compliance to protect patient privacy and data.
- Support your team during staff shortages, helping your facility run smoothly.
- Provide a cost-effective solution to reduce pressure on your administrative staff.
Outsourcing your call answering to PatientCalls isn’t just a temporary fix; it’s a smart way to keep things running smoothly even when you’re short on staff.
Contact us to learn more about how PatientCalls can help your team manage staffing challenges.