There are “high levels” of unfamiliarity with the Family and Medical Leave Act across U.S. radiology practices, and it could be hurting their chances of hiring physicians.

That’s according to new survey data, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American College of Radiology [1]. Among those surveyed at 372 radiology groups, about 50% in academia had strong familiarity with the FMLA. Meanwhile, 37% surveyed in private practice were well-acquainted with the act, versus 37% in national/managed service organizations. There was a clear divide between the sexes: 33% of male respondents were unfamiliar with the FMLA compared to 15% of women.

“Given the current wide-open job market for radiologists across the country, as well as 2022 passage of paid family/medical leave policies by the ACR and AMA, group practice leaders making hiring decisions may benefit from familiarity with the latter in order to stay competitive,” Elizabeth H. Dibble, MD, with the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and co-authors wrote June 28. “This will benefit not only groups, but also individuals hired, because paid leave can mitigate against systemic barriers to advancement for members of groups that are underrepresented in medicine in general and radiology specifically.”

Researchers gathered their data via the 2021 ACR Workforce Survey, conducted in October and November of that year. Practice types reached included academic, independent private, national/MSO, hospital based, teleradiology and others. More than 91% (or 372/407) of those who completed the workforce survey answered questions related to the FMLA.

About 24% said at least some of their employees took leave in 2021, representing an uptick from the 15% figure recorded in 2018. Of those, 66% said none of their radiologists used the FMLA while 10% were uncertain. Both men (47%) and women (53%) made almost equal use of leave. Taking care of a newborn or adopted child was the most common reason among radiologists at 57%. It was cited by 63% of women and 49% of men, numbers that have “become substantially more similar” compared to previous surveys.

“This may reflect changing gender roles with men taking a more active role in childcare or changing acceptance by practice leaders and colleagues of men taking leaves for childcare,” the study noted.

A serious personal health condition was the second most popular reason for taking leave at 28%, followed by 13% who said they were caring for an immediate family member. There also was marked variability in FMLA use between different practice types. Radiologists more commonly took leave in larger practices (41% in groups with 100-plus employees vs. 6% in those with 50 or fewer), urban settings (34% vs. 9% in rural geographies), and those in academic (51%) and national (32%) organizations. Private radiology practices made the least use of the act at 15%, which could be due to several factors including cultural differences or a smaller organizational size.

Familiarity and use of paid family leave correlated with the number of physician leaders, the authors noted. For instance, 44% were knowledgeable about the act in organizations with six-plus doc leaders compared to 31% for those with two or fewer. And respondents over the age of 66 were least familiar with FMLA (45%), while those 56-65 were most acquainted (50%).

“Like all survey-based studies, our study has limitations, many of which offer opportunities for future research,” the authors wrote. “Answers were subject to response and recall bias; we did not assess length of FMLA taken by radiologists, and specific questions regarding length of available paid versus unpaid FMLA were not asked. Answers to these questions would be of interest for future studies.”

Read more in the Journal of the American College of Radiology at the link below.