Training, tech, and transformation: Long-term steps to address the healthcare shortage

A serious workforce shortage is rocking the healthcare industry worldwide, and it has been one of the biggest constraints to achieving future health and development goals. Pandemic and post-pandemic aftershocks have further brought these issues to the surface. Challenges from this crisis will persist for the foreseeable future, whereby the World Health Organization (WHO) projects a 10 million shortfall of healthcare workers by 2030 globally.

So what is an adequate solution? It is not rocket science and involves three Ts: training, tech, and transformation. They are the three pillars of modern medicine, and they would not only effectively address and significantly alleviate the shortage crisis in the long term, but also become an inevitable part of the healthcare industry in the coming decades. If you are a current healthcare worker, a healthcare provider, or enrolled in direct entry MSN programs for non-nurses online, continue reading on to learn about the nitty-gritty of these three Ts. It will ensure that you can lead the charge in addressing the crisis, and prevent yourself from becoming burned out from it as well. 

Training: Provide it

A key part of the workforce shortage is the talent shortage. The obvious solution is to train more allied health professionals, but there are a few other additional things to do with that. Even before the pandemic, low-quality healthcare was declared an increasing concern from the standpoint of patient care and health costs. According to the WHO in 2018, about 10% of hospitalized patients in low to middle-income regions expected to acquire an additional infection during their stay; for high-income, it was 7%. 

Training must be quality training. The annual number of medical and nursing graduates has increased rapidly over the past decade globally. Yet if more graduate and training programs have not resolved shortages and burnout, then something has gone wrong. Some possible bottlenecks may be the insufficient clinical placements for students or the inadequate amount of qualified academic health practitioners. Another recommendation is that training should be continuous. Deloitte Insights for example suggests that raising an entry-level worker (such as a medical assistant) to become a nurse is a form of professional training that allows continuous career development and growth. 

Students and healthcare workers should have the resources to hone their knowledge and learn new in-demand skills, which is particularly important for healthcare. Health is always evolving due to technological advancements, aging populations, changing disease patterns, new treatment discoveries, and governmental policy reforms, so there needs to be continuous adaptation through ongoing training programs. 

Tech: Use it

Leveraging technology has become even more important for healthcare, and many providers and patients have learned to reap its benefits. Technology has propelled improvements in patient care and treatment options through the years. It is not only a tool but a powerful enabler that allows better care outcomes without breaking the bank. 

A notable development since the pandemic has been the rise of telemedicine. Approximately two-thirds of providers today prefer virtual-only or hybrid treatment methods; 88% of U.S. patients also prefer telehealth. Especially for those with mobility issues, telemedicine can allow appointments in the comfort of one’s home without needing to go to the doctor’s office and sit in a waiting room. At the same time, virtual appointments ensure that doctors can avoid catching infectious diseases from patients – absences only worsen shortages. An infected doctor would place vulnerable demographics such as children, the immunocompromised, the chronically ill, pregnant women, and the elderly at risk too. Telemedicine can relieve labor shortages in that doctors can treat and monitor more patients in more locations and decrease their sick days.  

Another technology that has been all the rage in recent years is artificial intelligence (AI). Compared to telemedicine, AI technology is poised to transform healthcare entirely. AI has been a significant player in relieving labor shortages and will occupy a necessary part of future healthcare. From streamlining documentation to assisting with patient care, AI technology is a viable instrument to lighten the load for overworked providers, and it is a bang for the buck. 

Institutions such as Baptist Health, South Florida have gradually introduced AI into everyday hospital functions. They found that since the investment, there was an 11.1% increase in prime-time utilization between the first quarter of 2021 and the second quarter of 2022. Baptist Health has also used AI in diagnosing breast cancers, where radiologists used it to assist in finding cancers that are undetectable to the human eye. Like any crisis, the labor shortage will worsen before it improves, so providers and workers should adopt confidence in using technology to weather the storm.

While training can deliver value to healthcare, workers need the necessary tools to demonstrate and support their skills and abilities. Technology is one of these tools, so they must be effectively utilized.  

Transformation: Make it

Transformations include digital, organizational, and administrative transformations. It requires a dose of innovation, creativity, and courage. Healthcare systems today are characterized by labyrinths of hierarchies and bureaucracy, and this institutional inertia has been the main barrier to proper reform. For example, outdated recruitment processes are still pervasive, when they can be transformed by technologies – such as AI – into far more user-friendly systems to maximize yield. 

It can be difficult even for experienced professionals to complete their duties if there is a lack of proper administration and management. There must always be internal communication and staff management planning, such as allowing employees easy access to cross-peer support when they have questions, need assistance, or in more extreme circumstances, dealing with crises.

 A study conducted by the International Hospital Federation (IHF) in 2021 found that given the sheer demographic diversity of the U.S., communication is one of the primary challenges for American hospitals. Another report by the IHF in 2022 revealed that communication failures were responsible for 30% of all medical malpractices in U.S. hospitals, resulting in more than 1700 deaths and a cost of $1.7 billion over five years. Combined with alarming shortages, the urgency for organizational and administrative transformations in U.S. hospitals is clear. This fundamentally includes creating more channels for varying interpretations, perspectives, and collaboration. 

While healthcare professionals should stay updated with developing trends in their respective fields, it is the duty of institutions to cultivate a culture that encourages innovation and growth. The danger of resisting change is a patient’s life – a report published by the BMJ in 2016 showed that more than 250,000 people die each year due to mistakes, errors, or unsafe care in U.S. hospitals, amounting to a staggering one-third or more of all people who die in hospitals. Therefore, going the extra mile in institutional transformation means that doctors can properly provide care, and patients can receive it safely. 

The current healthcare labor shortage will persist for years to come. The three Ts, however, can be used as a feasible foundational framework for navigating these volatile times in the industry. A little creativity and innovation will go a long way for hospitals to solve the staffing crunch.