Workforce Challenges Remain a Top Concern for Healthcare Executives

Workforce challenges were a main concern for healthcare executives in 2022 and will likely remain an issue in 2023, according to surveys from the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and Syntellis Performance Solutions.

ACHE’s annual survey of top issues confronting hospitals reflects responses from 281 hospital chief executive officers (CEOs). Respondents were asked to rank 11 issues affecting their hospitals in order of how pressing they were.

Workforce challenges was the top-ranked issue among CEOs, receiving an average ranking of 1.8. Within that category, specific concerns included registered nurse shortages (90 percent), technician shortages (83 percent), burnout among non-physician staff (80 percent), and therapist shortages (70 percent).

“Hospitals need to take both long- and short-term measures to address critical workforce issues so they can continue to provide safe, high-quality care now and in the future,” Deborah J. Bowen, FACHE, CAE, president and CEO of ACHE, said in the press release.

“Longer-term solutions include strengthening the workforce pipeline through creative partnerships, such as those with colleges to grow the number of nurses and technicians. More immediate solutions include supporting and developing all staff, building staff resilience, organizing services to reflect the realities of the labor market, and exploring alternative models of care.”

Financial challenges received the second-highest ranking of 2.8, followed by behavioral health and addiction issues with a ranking of 5.2.

Under financial challenges, 89 percent of CEOs were concerned about increasing costs for staff and supplies. Meanwhile, 66 percent were concerned about reducing operating costs and 63 percent identified inadequate Medicaid reimbursement as a concern.

Within the behavioral health and addiction issues category, 78 percent of executives noted concerns about the lack of appropriate facilities in their community, 77 percent were concerned with the lack of funding for addressing behavioral health and addiction issues, and 70 percent of leaders pointed to the insufficient reimbursement for these services.

The Syntellis CFO Outlook for Healthcare report found that leaders expect workforce challenges to persist in 2023.

The report includes year-end performance data from thousands of providers and survey results from more than 200 healthcare finance leaders.

The majority of respondents (98 percent) cited workforce optimization and productivity as a top or high priority for 2023.

Executives’ main concerns include employed labor (67 percent), contract labor (61 percent), inflation (55 percent), and supply chain expenses (39 percent).

Sixty-seven percent of finance leaders plan to reduce costs, while 63 percent aim to manage improvement initiatives, and 52 percent cited measuring and managing productivity as a top goal for 2023.

Financial challenges are also likely to continue in 2023. Many respondents (96 percent) cited cost management and reductions and cash flow management as top priorities for 2023.

Providers experienced poor financial performances throughout 2022 as federal aid expired and labor costs rose. Operating margins were below 2021 levels each month and expenses continued to grow. Additionally, revenue growth did not keep up with expense increases.

Healthcare organizations must optimize their existing workforce, monitor their performances, and make data-driven decisions to overcome staffing and financial challenges, according to Syntellis.