We must better recognize and support allied health professionals | Viewpoint

Recent headlines have raised the alarm about our nation’s severe shortage of nurses and physicians. Efforts to expand the pool of qualified candidates and create workplaces where medical professionals feel supported and appreciated rather than burned out will help us address this crisis.

There's a critical shortage of allied health professionals, Kathy Hunter writes.

However, one facet of this shortage – our allied health workforce – is often overlooked.

Allied health professionals comprise over 60% of the healthcare workforce and play essential clinical and administrative roles. From patient care technicians and lab technicians to phlebotomists, medical assistants and physical therapists, these professions support doctors, nurses, and patients by carrying out pivotal duties that enable care teams to work more efficiently while providing safe, high-quality care.

Although their work is critical, a shocking 85% of healthcare facilities are dealing with a shortage of allied health professionals. While a sufficiently staffed healthcare facility can ensure timely access to care for patients and reduce burnout among providers, understaffing in allied health roles can lead to severe consequences and erode care capabilities. Thirty-eight percent of employers say finding qualified patient care technicians is difficult. In pharmacies, over 70% struggle to fill pharmacy technician positions, and blood centers report turnover rates as high as 20% among staff.

At the National Healthcareer Association (NHA), we know that if we hope to meaningfully address our healthcare workforce crisis, we need to begin supporting and executing strategies that enhance workforce expansion to adequately address the demand for individuals to fill these careers.

To start, it is crucial to address the lack of public awareness of allied health professionals and the vital role they play in bringing success to the nation’s health systems. Many individuals, including school counselors, career coaches, and teachers, mistakenly believe that becoming a medical doctor or nurse is the only viable route in the healthcare field. This is not the case. Earning an industry-recognized certification can help maximize an individual’s potential within an allied health career but can also serve as a springboard to more credentialed roles if desired.

There are many pathways to entering an allied health career, including career and technical education, post-secondary education, apprenticeships, career centers, and other workforce or employer-driven training programs. But policy leaders must invest in educating and training the next generation to grow the healthcare workforce pipeline.

Investing in public-private partnerships to grow and expand health science pathway programs and build healthcare high schools – like Bloomberg Philanthropies’ $250 million initiative – that prepare high school students to start healthcare jobs as soon as they graduate not only works to address the workforce shortage but also provides students with exposure to the variety of career opportunities. Such initiatives must be bolstered and replicated across the country.

Leaders in education and healthcare must also prioritize the academic preparedness of young learners to enter the workforce as practice-ready clinicians. The COVID-19 pandemic devastated progress in learning for our nation’s youngest students, and the need to help newly trained clinicians transition from school to practice topped healthcare experts’ listof patient safety concerns for 2024. To address these gaps, policymakers and education leaders must invest in academic remediation, technology enhancements and preparation support so that students excel in core competencies like math, science, and reading as well as skills like critical thinking and applying reasoning.

Building the pipeline into allied health careers is key, but to meet today’s demands, we need to address the retention and recruitment issues plaguing today’s allied health workforce. An aging workforce, increased demand for care, burnout, and a decline in individuals entering healthcare professions all contribute to employee attrition.

However, healthcare employers can actively bolster employee retention initiatives by providing opportunities for advanced skills training, establishing clear career pathways, offering tuition assistance and adjusting pay scales to recognize specialized credentials.

It’s no wonder that for the third year in a row, workforce shortages have topped the list of hospital CEOs’ biggest concerns. While legislative efforts like The Allied Health Opportunity Act (S. 2304), The Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act (H.R. 6585), and The Occupational and Workforce Training for Healthcare (GROWTH) Act (H.R. 6078) are a good start, we must do more if we hope to meet the growing health workforce demand.

By addressing the shortage of allied health professionals and supporting their educational and professional needs, we can work to ensure a stronger healthcare workforce that provides high-quality care to all patients.

Kathy Hunter leads the National Healthcareer Association (NHA).