Growing Demand for Medical Practice Staff Requires Successful, Data-Driven Retention, Recruitment Strategies

New research from Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) provides critical insights about how medical practices can navigate the challenging post-pandemic recovery by increasing retention and improving hiring strategies for practice managers, nurses, medical assistants (MAs) and other key staff. The data report, “Building a People-First Pandemic Recovery,” is based on analysis of the “2021 MGMA Management and Staff Compensation” survey data for a wide range of job titles in thousands of U.S. healthcare practices.

The report’s findings describe a fast-changing landscape for medical practices, who are emerging from the survival mode they have been in for more than a year due to the unprecedented financial and operational challenges caused by the pandemic. Their continued recovery will be shaped in a significant way by how they retain their best employees and build out their staff by competing effectively for new employees. This new report augments the findings in MGMA’s recently released annual report on physician compensation, which examined the impact of the pandemic on compensation for physicians at medical practices. That prior report also examined key issues such reducing the causes of physician burnout and optimizing practice operations to better support operational and financial performance.

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“Our reports give a comprehensive look at the state of the medical practice industry, providing crucial insights to successfully navigate post-2020 staffing challenges,” said Dr. Halee Fischer-Wright, MD, MMM, FAAP, FACMPE, president and chief executive officer of MGMA. “Winning the talent battle is critical for medical practices as they continue to recover from the pandemic, and MGMA’s Management Compensation Report allows medical practice leaders to position compensation and benefits in a compelling way to recruit and retain employees in an incredibly competitive marketplace.”

The roots of these recruiting and hiring challenges existed before the pandemic, but have intensified, particularly for key roles such as MAs, registered nurses (RNs) and other clinical support staff. Practice managers and human resource officers face a tall task finding talented candidates in a labor pool that has witnessed a worrying number of trained and experienced clinical staff exiting the field of healthcare altogether.

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Key insights in the report include:

• Compensation for nurses and MAs was largely flat in 2020 compared to 2019, which is a sign of the pandemic’s pressure on medical practices to reduce spending, even for high-value clinical staff. Competition for nurses and MAs this year will likely drive compensation numbers upward.
• To increase retention rates, medical practices will need to address the rising issue of burnout among employees who worked through the pandemic and who are looking to restore a sense of work-life balance as they re-balance their lives post-pandemic.
• To compete for the best talent, medical practices will need to re-think how they attract employees, including hiring incentives, bonuses, flex schedules and teleworking models.
• Rural healthcare providers will need to be creative in how they recruit and compensate clinical support staff, given the acute shortage of highly qualified workers outside of metro areas.
• Expanding compensation packages with enhanced benefits — particularly those aimed at wellness and combatting burnout — will likely play a major role in reducing turnover and attracting new employees.

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