Amid staffing challenges, finding and keeping workforce talent is a top risk in healthcare, according to a PwC August Pulse Survey.
In the survey, 82 percent of healthcare executives said difficulty attracting and retaining talent is a moderate or serious risk to their business. This compared with 71 percent of industrial products leaders who said the same.
"Severe clinical workforce shortages, combined with increased patient demand, are compounding inflationary pressures," PwC said. "It's little surprise, then, that talent acquisition and retention is the biggest risk to health industry companies."
The company also noted that its "Behind the numbers 2024" report found these economic forces are expected to contribute to a 7 percent increase in medical costs for next year.
"The healthcare system's waste and redundancy also creates resource demand," PwC said.
Hospitals and health systems have made various adjustments to their recruitment and retention strategies to ensure top workforce talent. One retention strategy used in recent years was increased wages. However, organizations are going beyond that as workers place high value on other qualities in a workplace, including flexible staffing options. Organizations are also investing in technology and innovation, as well as training and development.
According to PwC, "building the talent pipeline, tailoring benefits, redefining the care team and model, and setting an aggressive digital- and automation-led agenda to improve productivity" are among strategies to employ.
Note: The PwC survey, conducted in early August, surveyed 609 U.S. executives from public and private companies in six sectors: industrial products (27 percent), consumer markets (22 percent), financial services (19 percent), technology, media and telecom (18 percent), health industries (7 percent) and energy and utilities (6 percent).