Increased demand in the health care workforce has been magnified
by the U.S. population growing by 25 million people each decade, as
well as the increasing elderly population. Between 2000 and 2030,
the number of people in the U.S. over the age of 65 is expected to
double. This elderly population makes twice as many physician visits
as those under 65, and the incidence of cancer is far higher for the
elderly than it is for younger age groups. In addition, the number of
average visits to physicians by people over the age of 45 has risen
significantly over the past 15 years (Institute of Medicine (US)
National Cancer Policy Forum, 2009). Medical advances (for example,
in the oncology arena) have also increased the demand in health care
services. Worsening the issue is the large number of physicians
heading into retirement. Physicians require between 10 to 16 years
of education and training, so it’s not a quick fix to find physicians
able to fill this void. However, physician shortages aren’t the only
issue. Health care staff shortages are also being observed amongst
nursing and allied health care professionals. The American Hospital
Association (AHA) reports that 89% of hospitals report unfilled RN
roles and 75% of hospitals are finding it more difficult to recruit
nurses today than in the past. To fill the void, some hospitals are
offering sign-on bonuses as high as $30,000 to entice experienced
nurses to join their teams. Hospitals nationwide report vacancy rates
of 21% for pharmacists, 18% for radiology techs, 12% for laboratory
technologists, and 9% for housekeeping and maintenance staff (AFT
Healthcare, 2021).
Severe shortages such as this increase the likelihood of delivering
substandard and/or dangerous care to patients. Shortages also result
in work environment that aren’t conducive to retaining qualified and
experienced health care professionals, resulting in high turnover
rates. Furthermore, inadequate staffing becomes an issue for
recruitment and retention. With the current staffing shortages, it’s
very difficult to meet and implement federal rulings laid out by
HITECH and HIPAA, which demand conversion of protected health
information (PHI) to electronic health records (EHR) and enforce
privacy and security of all PHI. In order to meet these regulations,
hospitals must identify the information that is considered PHI under
statute and carries the risk of harm to the patient and non-
compliance to the organization, balance the need to protect
information from exposure while still providing the highest level of
patient care, extend information access and policy enforcement
beyond the organization to the myriad of partners, service providers
and suppliers that support the health care provider, and develop a
holistic security program to protect all of this highly sensitive digital
data (Oracle, 2011). All these initiatives take a great deal of time,
money, and resources to implement, support, and continuously
monitor. Solutions to health care workforce shortages include
mandatory maximum professional to patient ratios, higher pay,
improved health coverage, additional support staff, and opportunities
for continuing education. Therefore, it’s extremely difficult to recruit
and retain health care workers while still prioritizing funding for
implementation and ongoing support of EHR and data security.
References:
1. AFT Healthcare. (2021). Empty Hallways: The Hidden Shortage of
Healthcare Workers.
2. Institute of Medicine (US) National Cancer Policy Forum. Ensuring
Quality Cancer Care through the Oncology Workforce: Sustaining
Care in the 21st Century: Workshop Summary. Washington (DC):
National Academies Press (US); 2009. Supply and Demand in the
Health Care Workforce. Available from:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK215247/
3. Oracle. (2011). HITECH’s Challenge to the Healthcare Industry
