For hospitals, 2022 was a year filled with uncertainty – labor was scarce, finances were strained and medical conditions became more complex. However, some of these challenges have not dwindled and are expected to continue into 2023.
Learn 2 key trends expected to impact hospitals in 2023 and how health leaders can take steps to effectively address these challenges and meet the opportunity within their local community.
- Combating the ongoing workforce crisis
Recruiting and retaining high-performing clinical talent remains a top priority, according to a recent McKinsey and Company healthcare executive survey.1 Three key factors fueling this ongoing shortage include.
- Elevated staffing costs
Due to various COVID-19 surges, labor costs have grown 25% since 20191 – making it increasingly difficult for hospitals to keep up with service demands with a drastically declining workforce.
Support from a focused post-acute partner with local and national reach helps hospitals to identify and retain specialized talent. This is made possible through national data and resources that can help a hospital locate qualified candidates across the nation. When the right team members are in place, patient satisfaction, outcomes and employee retention increases. - Worsening experience-complexity gap
In addition to the overall labor shortage, hospitals are facing a new kind of shortage among the clinical workforce: experience.2 New nurses are not entering the field at the same rate as retirement-age nurses are exiting the workforce. Not only are hospitals seeing a large gap in experienced clinical labor, the patient population is also becoming older and more complex.
With rising comorbidities, more standardized protocols and shorter lengths of stay, hospitals are seeking support from an industry expert to help alleviate this labor-patient imbalance. - Capacity Constraints
A lack of clinical labor, treatment supplies and bed space has heightened the healthcare labor crisis. External support from a focused partner allows hospitals to focus on quality care while the partner provides specialized resources and expertise to overcome challenges such as capacity constraints.
- Elevated staffing costs
- Scaling chronic disease management
As more patients experience multiple chronic conditions, hospitals are seeking resources to meet the need within their local community.
For example, more than 655,000 people in the U.S. die from heart disease each year, while nearly 800,000 experience a stroke annually.3 At the continued rate of increase, the direct and indirect costs for these two illnesses could reach $1.1 trillion by 2035.4
Having a post-acute partner who can help enhance access to specialized quality care within a hospital’s local community is important to address chronic and complex illnesses, and improve the community’s overall health.
Read 2023 Post-Acute Trends: Five Strategies to Improve Hospital Outcomes, to uncover 3 additional trends expected to impact hospitals in 2023 and how your hospital can prepare.
References:
- Fleron, A., Krishna, A., & Singhal, S. (2022, September 19). The gathering storm: The transformative impact of inflation on the healthcare sector. McKinsey & Company. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare-systems-and-services/our-insights/the-gathering-storm-the-transformative-impact-of-inflation-on-the-healthcare-sector
- The Advisory Board (29, June 25). The experience-complexity gap. Advisory Board. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://www.advisory.com/topics/nursing-care-quality-and-service/2019/06/the-experience-complexity-gap
- Souders, A. (2022). Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention FY 2023 Fact Sheet. National Association of Chronic Disease Directors. https://chronicdisease.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/NACDD-Fact-Sheet-2023_DHDSP-final2.pdf
- American Heart Association. (2017). Cardiovascular Disease: A Costly Burden for America https://www.heart.org/-/media/Files/About-Us/Policy-Research/Fact-Sheets/Public-Health-Advocacy-and-Research/CVD-A-Costly-Burden-for-America-Projections-Through-2035.pdf
