Anesthesia Employment Strategies: Navigating Current Headwinds

What factors do you see affecting health system staffing strategies? What shifts do you anticipate based on the financial challenges hospitals and health systems face today?

Despite the known staffing challenges across all of healthcare, and specifically anesthesia, we are seeing signs of progress in some areas. The biggest driver is that health systems are becoming more selective in the service lines they will continue to provide. This has reduced some of the demand of the staffing equation, which is helping systems regain a sense of balance. Many of these decisions to reassess service lines were influenced by low financial performance, and these decisions seem to be paying dividends in terms of staffing. Continued consolidation of services is a necessary reality to help the market fully normalize.

How have clinician employment strategies evolved over the past two years? 

In our specialty of anesthesia, we are seeing an increasing percentage of the workforce choose part-time or per diem employment. These models give clinicians the opportunity to work when and how they desire. In today’s current labor market, anesthesia clinicians have diverse opportunities in terms of schedule, geography, and clinical environment. The increase in per diem work specifically allows tremendous flexibility for clinicians; however, it does tend to contribute to the clinician shortage and accelerate compensation increases.

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