The past three years have seen competition for clinical and nonclinical talent surge as the labor market tightened and healthcare workers explored their options. As 2023 MGMA DataDive Practice Operations survey data showed:
- The turnover rate — individuals who left a given position, divided by total number of positions — for front office support staff reached 40% in 2022.*
- That same turnover measure for clinical support staff and business operations support staff was 33.33%, respectively, in 2022.
- Practices saw a 25% turnover rate for advanced practice providers in 2022.
* Based on a single specialty aggregate combining primary care, nonsurgical and surgical single specialty practice data.
While salaries and wages are a big part of the stay-or-go calculus for these workers, other elements of a compensation and benefits (or “total rewards”) strategy could also substantially impact your medical group’s hiring and retention efforts.
Despite the intense focus among medical group leaders on bringing in new workers, it hasn’t always translated into major shifts in “comp and ben” packages. A June 11, 2024, MGMA Stat poll assessing recent changes in how medical group leaders approach the issue finds little change compared to 2023: Only about one in five (21%) respondents noted that their organizations expanded or improved their benefits offerings to employees in the past year, while the majority (70%) acknowledged that benefits largely stayed the same versus the previous year. Another 9% of respondents signaled that their benefits offerings had declined compared to 2023. The poll had 402 applicable responses.
Among medical group leaders who reported expanding or improving benefits offerings, the most common changes included:
- New wellness benefits, including enhanced EAP programs and mental health resources, as well as gym memberships for workers and covered family members
- Increasing the employer contribution to health insurance
- Addition of a uniform allowance
- Implementation or expansion of paid leave, including family leave and dependent care leave, as well as adjustments to maximum paid leave accruals
- Making paid leave available upon hire date
- New pet insurance offerings.
What else we learned
- This latest poll finds less movement on expanding or improving employee benefit packages than this time last year, when a June 13, 2023, MGMA Stat poll found that about one-third (35%) of medical groups had added or increased benefits since 2022, with 65% reporting no such improvements. Those 2023 findings were a signal of less movement from 2022, when nearly half (45%) of medical groups reported adding or expanding employee benefits since 2021.
- Most respondents to the latest MGMA Stat poll who said their benefit offerings had stayed the same were largely split on the question of whether they view a need to update benefit packages in the coming year to be more competitive. While several medical group leaders said that updates would depend largely on improved financial performance, almost as many said they already believe they have a strong total rewards strategy after making improvements in recent years.
Coming soon
- The 2024 MGMA DataDive Management and Staff Compensation launches in late June, with industry-leading compensation benchmarks for job titles throughout a medical group practice, from the C-suite to the front desk. Last year’s national survey included data on more than 157,000 management and staff positions from more than 2,940 organizations.
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Insights from MGMA podcasts
On a recent MGMA Member Spotlight podcast, Anthony Schier, executive director at Cheyenne Obstetrics and Gynecology LLC, discussed his tips for developing and retaining top talent in your medical practice in several ways that can be useful if your organization has limited options on updating total rewards strategy.
Developing employees and fostering engagement
Schier emphasized the importance of investing in employee development, even for practices without previous formal programs. He noted that the Cheyenne strategy is twofold: “How can we improve the employee? And then also, how could their improvement benefit us?”
One strategy Schier’s practice employs is conducting annual performance evaluations. During these evaluations, they discuss employees’ career goals and identify growth opportunities. “We will discuss their career goals and look for areas where they want to grow. If we notice areas where we think they might excel, we will encourage them,” Schier said. This approach allows the practice to understand each employee’s aspirations and provide targeted support.
For example, Schier’s practice has supported sonographers in pursuing advanced training, such as a weeklong program on fetal echocardiography. “Ensuring that these techs are well-trained in the latest technology and updated methods is crucial. We recently finished a week-long program with one of them on conducting fetal echoes, a procedure commonly performed in maternal-fetal medicine clinics.”
Schier also highlights the value of sending staff to local community college programs that cover topics such as conflict management and leadership development. “The whole team [then] gets to discuss what they learned,” fostering a culture of continuous learning and knowledge sharing.
Retaining top talent through career advancement opportunities
In addition to developing employees, Schier’s practice actively seeks to retain top talent by providing opportunities for career advancement. “I had a front office staff person who was bilingual in English and Spanish; she was also a medical assistant (MA) by training, and I had encouraged her to become a certified medical translator. We paid for her to do that; she researched and found the online program, and we funded it.” According to Schier, this additional training allowed the staffer to earn a higher wage.
Schier also noted a program to encourage and support some MAs interested in becoming registered nurses (RNs). While the practice couldn’t retain all the RN-trained employees, Schier recognizes the broader benefit to the community. “We see that it does help the community because there is a need for [more RNs].”
- For more information on developing a positive culture in your medical practice that boosts employee satisfaction and retention, make sure to check out the recent MGMA Mindful Medicine podcast episode featuring Sarah Ariaudo, MHA, who offers communication strategies for transforming toxic situations.
