Strategies to Reduce Provider Attrition

What is attrition in the workplace?

Attrition is the departure of employees from the organization for any reason (voluntary or involuntary), including resignation, termination, death or retirement.

Provider Attrition to Hit Critical Point - AMA

Last Fall, the American Medical Association delivered statements regarding the increasing national provider shortage and the possibility of a healthcare crisis in the United States due to such shortage.

The AMA outlined critical pressures on providers, including excessive administrative burdens, burnout, attacks on science, increased consolidation across health care, and dysfunctional Medicare payment system.

The AMA listed five steps to get us out of this crisis, including specific legislation and solutions from the?AMA Recovery Plan for America’s Physicians :

• Pass meaningful Medicare payment reform
• Reduce administrative burdens like the overused, inefficient prior authorization process
• Pass bipartisan legislation to expand residency training options, provide greater student loan support, and create smoother pathways for foreign-trained physicians
• End the criminalization of health care
• Ensure physicians are not punished for taking care of their mental health needs

“The physician shortage that we have long feared—and warned was on the horizon—is already here. It’s an urgent crisis … hitting every corner of this country—urban and rural—with the most direct impacting hitting families with high needs and limited means. Imagine walking into an emergency room in your moment of crisis—in desperate need of a physician’s care—and finding no one there to take care of you, " Dr. Ehrenfeld said in his remarks.

McKinsey Survey

In a recent McKinsey survey , a large portion of physicians say they are considering leaving their current position in the near future—a critical issue for healthcare organizations dealing with a provider shortage anticipated to only worsen in the coming years.

The survey indicated

• 35% of doctors said they are likely to leave their current positions within 5 years
• 60% of doctors stated they’re likely to leave clinical practice
• 58% said their desire to find a new job increased over the past year—up 15% from the prior year’s survey
• 72% said they’re approached about alternative job offers at least once a month.

The survey gathered a list of complaints from providers. Most of the complaints mostly fit under the categories of:

• Compensation and incentive structures
• Lifestyle needs and well-being
• Involvement in decision-making
• Staffing and support systems

My Thoughts - Strategies to Reduce Provider Attrition

As a healthcare strategist and entrepreneur for over 20 years, I have regularly surveyed providers and prepared the below list of the top changes providers and staff are seeking to be addressed:

• Overhaul of provider and staff compensation and incentive structures to increase overall compensation.
• Review of patient scheduling policies and procedures to create a streamlined processes.
• Provider review of value-based care participation models to determine value (worth it factor) vs. feasibility (ability to do).
• EHR participation in provider panels to improve EHR usability.
• Separate provider governance of Artificial Intelligence clinical technologies prior to implementation.
• Quicker adoption of Artificial Intelligence for the elimination of administrative tasks due to staff shortages and provider time wasted on such tasks.
• Significant increase in provider decision-making models.

Kris Gates, [email protected]