85% of Facilities Are Facing Allied Healthcare Professional Shortages

More than eight in ten healthcare facilities are experiencing allied healthcare professional shortages, leading them to increase hiring incentives and employ newly graduated professionals, according to a survey from AMN Healthcare.

The survey reflects responses from 1,005 healthcare executives from hospital systems, laboratories, home health facilities, independent hospitals, and other healthcare facilities gathered between April 5 and April 19, 2022.

Eighty-five percent of respondents said their facility was facing a shortage of allied healthcare professionals, either a great deal, a lot, or a moderate amount. Allied healthcare professionals include therapists, laboratory technologists, imaging technologists, and other non-nurse and non-physician healthcare providers.

“The national shortage of healthcare professionals is not limited to nurses and physicians,” Robin Johnson, divisional president at AMN Healthcare, said in a press release. “Allied healthcare professionals also are in short supply and many facilities are struggling to keep pace with their staffing needs.”

Labor shortages were the biggest challenge for healthcare facilities when seeking allied healthcare professionals (80 percent). Additionally, 70 percent of respondents cited longer times to fill positions as an obstacle and 46 percent said burnout among staff is a challenge.

Around two-thirds of healthcare executives (67 percent) said their facility has implemented additional hiring incentives to address the shortage of allied healthcare professionals. Nearly 60 percent have increased pay rates and hired temporary professionals to fill staffing gaps.

The use of temporary healthcare professionals increased during the COVID-19 pandemic as staffing shortages persisted. According to the survey, 30 percent of all allied healthcare professionals in 2022 were temporary staff, compared to 25 percent before the pandemic.

Facilities have also been looking to the recently graduated to fill allied healthcare professional positions. Eighty-two percent of respondents said their facility hired new allied healthcare professional graduates in the last year.

Facilities hired new graduates to fill positions in a timely manner (74 percent), mitigate staffing shortages (66 percent), meet rising patient demand (50 percent), and maintain continuity of care (49 percent).

Among healthcare facilities that hired new allied healthcare professional graduates, 38 percent hired radiologic technologists, 36 percent hired physical therapists, and 31 percent hired laboratory technologists.

Respondents also hired newly graduated occupational therapists (30 percent), speech language pathologists (26 percent), and respiratory therapists (26 percent).

The high demand for radiologic technologists likely indicates that patient utilization of medical procedures has rebounded after being delayed during the pandemic, the survey noted. The need for other allied professionals stems from patient aging, patient backlogs due to COVID-19, and widespread poor health.

Almost three-quarters of respondents who hired new graduates said they were very likely to continue this practice. Those who are unlikely to keep hiring recent graduates cited training, a lack of clinical experience, and licensure as top reasons.

As the healthcare industry has dealt with workforce shortages since the pandemic began, facilities have employed several strategies to maintain staffing capacity.

Recent data from Kaufman Hall revealed that many hospitals have raised starting salaries, introduced signing bonuses, and increased opportunities for remote or hybrid work schedules to boost recruitment and retention.

A past AMN Healthcare survey also found that 96 percent of healthcare facilities hired temporary allied healthcare professionals to address the workforce shortage.