US healthcare is facing a severe shortage of workers at every level. 6.5 million are expected to leave their jobs by 2026. Geoffrey Roche addresses the challenges in building a new workforce with Jim Cagliostro. 

 

Episode Introduction 

Geoffrey highlights the impact of the current staffing crisis in healthcare, and why leadership needs to evolve from a transactional to a heart-centered approach. He also explains why delays to access in care can cost hospitals up to $1 million every month, how one community college turned away over 13,600 qualified students from a program, and why every healthcare leader should become a mentor.

 

Show Topics

 

• The impact of an ongoing workforce crisis

• A changing approach to healthcare leadership

• Industry and academia must connect to support the workforce

• Access to care delays may cost hospitals $1 million every month

• Delayed care leads to poorer patient outcomes and higher costs

• Qualified students can’t access vital healthcare programs

• All healthcare leaders should mentor

 

 

02:33 The impact of an ongoing workforce crisis  

Geoffrey said the staffing shortage, combined with retention challenges, are impacting access to care. 

‘’… we sit at a huge inflection point. Probably without question the most challenging time in our nation's healthcare workforce is, as we speak today, certainly not that dissimilar from 2023. And when we look at it, we've got a significant supply and demand challenge. We know that there are not enough individuals graduating from college in pretty much every aspect of a healthcare program. We also know that retention still remains a very significant challenge, whether it's a clinical role or a nonclinical role. I think we have to be honest though about the impact that we are all seeing and will continue to face, particularly in the licensed areas of our healthcare system. It doesn't go a day where I talk to somebody and they share an access to care delay, whether it's in imaging, whether it's in lab, whether it's in outpatient or inpatient services. We're certainly at a very, very difficult time.’’

 

06:00 A changing approach to healthcare leadership

Geoffrey said leaders in a multi-generational workforce need to demonstrate empathy and not judge. 

‘’I think leadership as a whole is taught very differently, right? And different points in time, different generations, the way that they have been taught leadership in some ways was command and control, which some would argue is more like transactional. And as we further see, we've got how many different generations, some people say five, some people say six. Whatever the number is, we've got more generations in the workforce than ever. And what we know is that our younger and our future generations have a much different view of leadership than previous ones. And we know that connection, respect, empathy, really this desire to understand that it's not going to just be the status quo, is not going to be the future of leadership when we look at all the different generations. And so it's really incredibly important that we have leaders in healthcare that can relate and understand and demonstrate empathy and not judge. I always say nobody should be judging on generations. I am the first to say I'm a millennial, but that doesn't mean right away go in and talk about, "Well, millennials leave jobs." That has no business in this conversation. What does have is how do we work together to achieve outcomes and results? And ultimately, I think if a leader can find connection with a person and help drive them, mentor them to achieve results, everyone's going to be rowing the oar in the right direction.’’

 

08:08 Industry and academia must connect to support the workforce

Geoffrey explained why collaboration is vital to improve access to care delays. 

‘’….we have significant access to care delays in the healthcare system today where whether you're going for an imaging study, whether you're waiting to get an appointment for whatever it may be, cardiac related, oncology related, we have a really challenging situation where you have a situation where literally I talk to people across the country and they're like, "Well, I was supposed to get this study done, but the person who was going to do the study called out sick and they didn't have somebody else to do it." That's the reality that we sit in today, and we have to really address that. And that's really where that industry and academic connection comes in, where we've got to get strong connections where we're working together to make sure that not only do we have all the right programs to support the workforce, but that industry and academia are also coming together to talk to accrediting bodies, to talk to licensing boards because sometimes what's in place from a licensure end and from an accreditation end is not necessarily helping address these issues. We sit in a time of 2024 where some licensing standards and accreditation standards have been there for 40 or more years. Well, this is a very different world and a very different healthcare workforce today. And so I can't stress enough that importance that we really are fully integrated working as one towards the exact same outcome that we all want.’’

 

09:52 Access to care delays may cost hospitals $1m dollars every month 

Geoffrey said high workforce costs need to be considered against the high cost in delayed access to care. 

‘’The other point I would just highlight is, look, access to care and access to education go hand in hand. But what we also know is that these access to care delays have a significant impact on the bottom line of the healthcare system. If you study it over time, whether it's an imaging study, whether it's other diagnostic related things, anytime you don't have the workforce to operate a specific piece of medical equipment, just on reimbursement alone, you could be looking at a million dollars a month. I mean, just think about that. When you think about that in the healthcare system, how much workforce costs. But then if you don't have the workforce to help operate the equipment that allows care to happen, they're not able to reimburse for it. And so there's a significant implication there as well. And so that's why these things are so important. First, people. But second, process and the impact and the financial is really critical.’’

 

11:42 Delayed care leads to poor patient outcomes and higher costs

Geoffrey explained why costs will spiral if challenges in access to care are not resolved. 

‘’…... So access to care is delayed, ultimately they're probably going to end up in the emergency room. And then when you look at that situation, that care is going to be so much more costly than it could have been if that care wasn't necessarily delayed on the front end. While at the same time, we know workforce, people, still remain one of the top costs in our healthcare system for every single employer. And so most healthcare systems have tried to do their best to not have as many travel staffing occurring in all facets of the organization. And as part of that, obviously some have none today, many still do, but those costs are exorbitant. But the ultimate element is when patients can't get the access to care when they need it, that condition can get worse, diagnoses can be delayed, and it just can further add up and add up to a very expensive healthcare system as we know that ultimately is not going to be good for the entire holistic sense.’’

 

14:19 Qualified students can’t access vital healthcare programs

Geoffrey said in 2023, over 13,600 students qualified for a community college program were turned away. 

‘’Today, we sit in a very different time where we have far less individuals expressing interest in healthcare careers as a whole. And we also sit at a time where we have a challenge where so many healthcare programs, particularly at the community college level, which have historically been our biggest supplier of our clinical healthcare roles are capped or they don't have any additional seats currently available. We get into accreditation issues there. We get into faculty student ratios there, but it's a very real issue. So I'll give you an example. In imaging, which is so important to all facets of our healthcare system from a diagnoses standpoint to helping the whole care delivery system to rural, suburban, urban communities across this country, you have, in 2023, the professional association, ASRT, surveyed community colleges. And what that survey said was that roughly just over 13,600 students qualified for a community college program in imaging were turned away…..Just over 13,600 qualified students turned away from community colleges across the country. Now, we know nursing has even worse numbers when it comes to community colleges. And here's the fact these community colleges are not turning them away because they want to. They're turning them away because of accreditation. They're turning away because they don't have enough room, seats, faculty to student ratio, a whole host of things.’’

 

17:52 All healthcare leaders should mentor 

Geoffrey said it’s important to give back and help others to achieve their dreams.

‘’…I think particularly if you are a leader, make sure you're mentoring and that you are giving back to help others achieve their dreams. And if you're seeking a mentor, certainly people that have not necessarily been a mentor, think about mentoring others too. Everybody we know, based on data, particularly in healthcare today, needs a mentor. This is not an easy industry, but it is the most fulfilling industry to ever serve in. But we know that with a mentor, it's not going to be easy, but it certainly can be a bit easier along the journey. And so that's what I would certainly leave you with.’’

 

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You’ll also hear: 

 

The meaning of ‘’Healthineers’’: ‘’Healthineers is the healthcare side of Siemens….Healthineers was a name given that really reflects that our workforce at Siemens…are pioneers in breakthroughs in medicine.‘’

Challenges in staff turnover and hospital leadership: ‘’We have seen larger numbers of individuals at middle management all the way up to senior executive management leaving our healthcare systems. Some of that in all honesty is not a bad thing…. In my opinion, we have had far too much transactional leadership in healthcare as compared to true heart-centered transformational leadership.’’

Burnout remains a very real issue for healthcare workers: ‘’….we're also seeing (burnout) among other professionals and other leaders in healthcare. It's a very, very real issue…, we don't always take care of ourselves because we're so externally people-focused. And so it's impacted across the board.’’

Time is of the essence for staffing and patient care: ‘’…if we as industry don't work to … find innovative and creative ways to join together to talk to the accrediting bodies, to work with the licensing boards, we're going to only further perpetuate that reality becoming far worse. This has a significant impact to patients. This has also a significant impact to the workforce, the existing workforce, because think about burnout, think about moral injury, think about stress. We don't have enough people to help you, everything's on you.’’

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