Forty-nine percent of executives believe their hospitals are not fully prepared to deal with current patient volumes, according to a report published June 12 by FTI Consulting's "Hospital Operations Outlook Survey."
Recruiting physicians is a challenge that most executives are experiencing, but the greatest gaps exist in nursing and mental and behavioral health specialists, according to the survey. Salary limitations, schedules and increasing levels of on-the-job stress are factors contributing to workforce turnover.
Executives are interested in building on existing retention practices and only 29% of respondents expressed concerns over the related costs of doing so, indicating this is widely considered to be an important and worthwhile investment.
Sixty-nine percent of executives said they found retention bonuses as an effective tool to retain talent. Other tactics included executives hosting listening sessions with staff and hospitals investing in workplace culture.
While more than half of hospitals report increasing their agency utilization rates, executives are addressing full-time employees’ job satisfaction to avoid overreliance on high cost, temporary staffing.
Less than one-third of executives have already made changes to their operating model to resolve or prevent potential workforce issues and achieve long-term sustainability, but almost half of those who plan to make such changes are already in the process of implementing them with these goals in mind, according to the report.
"A multitude of factors are impacting hospitals' ability to recruit and retain talent, but the good news is, hospital leaders can influence effective change if they have targeted insights from their people," Alexandra Priola, a managing director at FTI Consulting, said in a June 12 news release. "Long gone are the days of taking broad approaches to nuanced challenges. The winners will be the ones that prioritize customization — in messaging, programming and experiences — that speaks to the specific needs of their audiences, and in the process, channels resources into areas that enable engagement, growth and commitment."
Editor's note: FTI Consulting conducted this survey online between March 27 and April 4, with 186 senior executives across all types of hospitals and 14 mid-level leaders of academic hospitals. Sixty-two respondents represent academic hospitals, 102 are part of a health system and 36 are standalone facilities.