How radiologists can help tackle the rad tech ‘workforce crisis’

Radiologists must take interest in the greater healthcare labor market to solve today’s rad tech “workforce crisis,” members of the specialty charged Tuesday. 

While there is little radiologists can do to influence national staffing trends, they can help improve the local workplace experiences of technologist colleagues, experts explained in Academic Radiology. About 36% of physicians nationally anticipate leaving their job in the next two years, but the figure is closer to 2% at Sutter Health system in Sacramento, California. Why?

“Sutter’s CEO attributes this result to a culture where people feel included and can make a difference, two-way communication between system leaders and physicians, and professional development opportunities through a graduate medical education program,” Wilfred O. Del Mundo II, MD, with the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, and co-authors wrote Jan. 14. “Of course, the same principles apply to nonphysician radiology employees, such as technologists—inclusion, communication, and advancement opportunities count across the board.”

Mundo and colleagues gave the example of an unidentified, large, university-based abdominal sonography division. Over the course of one month, the service line saw 80% of its technologists depart amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Varying factors were in play. One tech left to take a weekend-only role, opening time to study for a career change. Two more secured positions at a hospital offering a big signing bonus and 15% higher hourly wages. Yet another grabbed a gig as a traveling sonographer with wages three times greater. 

In response, radiologists attempted to convince system leaders to boost compensation in recognition of the higher-acuity work seen in their service area. They recruited leaders in oncology and transplant surgery to help make their case. Eventually, the organization pursued solutions such as hiring traveling sonographers and new graduates from training programs. But these only served as Band-Aids to the bigger problems. Travelers lacked institutional knowledge, experience with complex cases, and cost more than permanent employees. Graduates, meanwhile, took months to develop the needed proficiencies, and the required mentoring hindered veteran colleagues’ productivity. 

For radiologists to prevent and mitigate similar staffing shortfalls, Mundo and co-authors offered three suggestions: 

1. Pay attention to the local job market: “If every hospital in the region is suffering staffing shortages in a particular field, radiologists need to be aware and work proactively with the administration to do what they can to prevent people from choosing to leave,” they wrote. This could include fighting for competitive tech wages, helping enhance the workplace environment and ensuring opportunities for career advancement. Radiologists also can monitor conditions at competitors, recognizing when “significant differences in these areas are beginning to develop.” 

2. Build strong relationships: “Technologists should know that radiologists do not see them as interchangeable cogs in a machine but as respected and trusted colleagues, who matter not only for the work they perform but also as persons in their own right,” the authors advised. “Employees who see themselves as little more than mercenaries—simply selling their services to the highest bidder—are likely to exhibit little loyalty to the institution, their colleagues, or the patients they serve.”

3. Play an active role in educating health professionals on whom radiologists rely: “By helping to teach technology students and providing continuing education for technologists, for example, radiologists can demonstrate how seriously they take technologist education and how committed they are to helping technologists perform at their best and find maximal fulfillment in the work they do.” This can include ensuring that enough training spots are available in the region and encouraging techs to develop new areas of expertise. 

Mundo and colleagues noted that there are about 32,000 practicing radiologists in the U.S. compared to roughly 221,000 employed rad techs. Authors of the analysis believe educators should consider discussing such data and tech employment trends as part of physician training programs. The key consideration, the authors emphasized, is that “radiology is not the work of radiologists alone.” 

“The fact that technologists outnumber radiologists by more than 6 to 1 indicates how deeply the work of radiologists depends on the contributions of technologists,” the writers concluded. “Building good relationships with technologists cannot prevent a pandemic, but it can help to ensure that when workforce challenges arise, radiologists and technologists are better positioned to work together to continue to meet the needs of their patients and communities.”