Medical Employee Evaluation
The global healthcare workforce shortage is expected to continue in 2025, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates a shortage of 10 million health workers by June 2030, with more than 80% of medical executives surveyed to be challenges for the external workforce this year, including employment difficulties and shortages of personnel. As a result, survey respondents said it was important for organizations to invest in retention and engagement strategies.
This need for investment in workforce retention and engagement has been highlighted by recent events. In early 2024, more than 12,000 junior doctors from South Korea were on strike, seeking better working conditions and fewer hours. South Korea has the lowest proportion of physicians to the population of developed countries, with just 2.6 clinicians per 1,000 people. In late 2024, young doctors from the UK's National Health Services (NHS) were engaged in long-term strikes due to higher wages and better working conditions, cancelling more than 1.5 million appointments according to NHS.8. The December 2024 strike calls for higher wages, increased staffing and improved patient safety. 9 Burning out among clinical staff, and often demanding working conditions can be longer, reducing productivity, lowering job satisfaction, and can have a negative impact on patient care.
Whether public or private, the healthcare system is a business. However, unlike other companies that view employees as assets, healthcare workers can be overlooked in resource allocation decisions, especially when budgets are tight. Nevertheless, prioritizing the health and well-being of staff across the organization can lead to cost savings by reducing burnout and increasing retention. This approach helps to increase productivity among existing staff while stabilizing the costs associated with hiring and hiring new employees.
Reducing administrative burdens should be a priority for health system leaders. Research has shown that these low-value tasks contribute to clinician burnout. Doctors working in hospital intensive care units could spend just 15% to 30% of their time with patients, with the rest being spent on administrative tasks such as updating medical records. Digital tools can streamline some of these tasks, allowing physicians and other clinicians to have more time to interact with patients in person.
According to a model developed by the Deloitte US Health Solutions Center, the technology is released between 13% and 21% of nurses' time, converting it to 240-400 hours a year for one nurse. Many health systems are tight budgets and often do not have enough clinical staff to meet demand. Can technology change that? A research by Deloitte US shows that already widely available digital tools can reduce nurses' time on administrative tasks by 20%, allowing them to spend more time on patients.
