According to the results of a new survey conducted by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, hospital and health system leaders are preparing to navigate a possibly turbulent 2023.1 The majority of healthcare leaders (85%) said staffing challenges would have a major impact on their strategy for 2023, and 76% said inflation is a significant factor in organizational strategies. Staffing challenges, including burnout, shortages, and turnover are prompting many hospital and health system leaders to pay closer attention to the mental health and well-being of their employees. Nearly all of the Deloitte survey respondents (95%) said investing in their workforce in 2023 was “important” or “very important.”
Clinical laboratories produce more than 652,000 jobs nationwide according to recent analysis from the American Clinical Laboratory Association (ACLA).2 And there is no shortage of jobs out there in the field. For example, LinkedIn has listings for 15,363 medical laboratory scientists and 19,650 medical laboratory technologists.
To address staffing challenges, I have seen the following in recent literature and laboratory job announcements:
- 2:1 retirement savings match
- Addressing compensation disparities between temporary and permanent staff
- Job sharing (splitting a full-time position between two people)
- No-cost continuing education
- Optimizing workflows through automation
- Sign-on bonuses
- Student loan assistance
- Work/life balance, including flexible work shifts, no third-shift, one weekend requirement a month, minimal holidays
Hopefully, staffing challenges start to improve in 2023 versus the opposite.
As for healthcare leaders’ concerns about inflation this year, the “Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus Appropriations Bill” was recently signed into law. This will help some as it provides a one-year reprieve from Medicare cuts of up to 15 percent for over 800 laboratory services that would have gone into effect January 2023 through the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA). Perhaps the long-term fix to PAMA, the Saving Access to Laboratory Services Act (SALSA), will move forward this year.
I welcome your comments and questions — please send them to me at [email protected].
REFERENCES
- 2023 outlook for health care. Deloitte United States. Accessed January 10, 2023. https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/blog/health-care-blog/2022/2023-outlook-for-health-care-could-margins-staffing-stall-progress-to-future-of-health.html.
- New analysis shows value of clinical laboratories to the U.S. economy. American Clinical Laboratory Association. Published November 28, 2022. Accessed January 10, 2023. https://www.acla.com/%ef%bf%bcnew-analysis-shows-value-of-clinical-laboratories-to-the-u-s-economy/.
