IMAGEPRO™ PANEL SPEAKS ON STRATEGIES TO MITIGATE STAFFING SHORTAGES
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Though many states relaxed restrictions related to COVID-19 following the decline of COVID-19 related cases, staffing shortages are still a very significant challenge forcing healthcare providers to continue to do more with less. The MarkeTech Group recently surveyed its imagePRO™ panel to gauge radiology directors’ opinions on staff shortage.
The majority observe more than a 10% increase in staffing shortage compared to pre-2021 numbers
We asked Radiology directors to compare today’s staff shortage numbers with numbers prior to 2021. The plurality (48%) reported a 10-20% increase in staff shortage; 23% reported a 21-50% increase; 6% reported an increase greater than 50%, while 14% indicated less than 10% increase; and only 9% stated no change.
Radiology, Med Surg and ER have the most significant staff shortages
The staff shortage does not impact all departments equally. According to our panel, departments such as OR, Cardiology, and Pathology do not experience heavy staff shortages. On the other hand, 35% of the respondents reported that Radiology has the most significant staff shortage; 28% indicated Med/Surg has the most significant staff shortage, while another 19% stated that ER has the most significant staff shortage.
Increasing salaries and/or benefits for retention is the most effective strategy to mitigate staff shortage in Radiology
When we asked about the most effective strategies to mitigate staff shortage in Radiology, 49% of the respondents pointed out that increasing salaries and/or benefits for retention would be the most effective strategy; strengthening the healthcare workforce pipeline is seen as the most effective by 16%; 14% agreed that changing staff model to include different shifts or overtime along with more part-time is the best strategy; while 12% indicated that more cross-training on modalities is going to be effective to overcome staff shortage on Radiology.
