A recent study predicts that by 2025, the U.S. will face a shortage of 46,000 to 90,000 physicians. Keeping in mind the fact that it takes approximately 5 to 10 years to train a physician, it is evident that there are not enough people being trained to make up for this expected shortage.
Primary care and psychiatry fields are expected to be most affected by these shortages. However, the shortage will be manageable because nurse practitioners and physician assistants are expected to help physicians with their workloads. Still, it is important to work towards retaining physicians and better handle hiring and retention issues.
Retaining physicians in today's highly competitive marketplace should be a top priority for hospitals. The following measures can be implemented to ensure talented physicians stick around:
- Ensure that if new technology is implemented, the physicians are made aware of how it will affect their daily workflow. It is important to avoid abstractions and ensure everyone is on the same page.
- A major strategy that healthcare organisations could implement is to simplify organisational reporting structure and to ensure that doctors are accountable for no more than five people. However, it is important to not give up too much bargaining power to the workforce as this could cancel out any gains made by improved reaction.
- It is important to remember that physicians usually do not like leadership work or opportunities. Instead, they get more excited about opportunities to work in an inter-professional community such as with social workers or dieticians. A survey conducted by Caliper reveals that around 20 percent of physicians said they would welcome the chance to shift to an administrative role while another 20 percent were completely uninterested.
