Dive Brief:
- AMN Healthcare, a healthcare staffing company, fielded more searches for nurse practitioners, physician assistants and certified registered nurse anesthetists than for primary care physicians over the past year as patient preferences shifted, according to a study of healthcare worker starting salaries and recruitment incentives released last month.
- Nurse practitioners were the most commonly searched specialty for the third consecutive year, with average salary offers rising 9% year over year from $138,000 in 2022 to $158,000 this year. Average starting salary offers in primary care were either flat or down year over year.
- The search trends reflect a changing healthcare landscape, where organizations turn to nurses to provide revenue-generating, cost-efficient patient care, according to the report.
Dive Insight:
Nurse practitioners will play an increasingly important role in patients’ healthcare experiences, the report argues, as they man the “new front door” of the healthcare system, including retail chains, urgent care centers and telehealth operations.
An uneven labor supply partially explains the trend toward increased nurse utilization, AMN argues. While the nationwide physician shortage is expected to reach a deficit of 48,000 primary care physicians by 2034, the number of certified registered nurses is growing, according to the report.
Last year, more than 36,000 nurse practitioners completed their training — more than the total number of physicians that finished residency. By 2031, the number of nurse practitioners is expected to grow by 46%.
Nurse practitioner labor is also cost effective, according to the report.
Despite starting salaries increasing during the pandemic, nurses remain a cheaper alternative to physicians, the report said. AMN Healthcare’s 2023 Physician Billing Report tracks annual billing submitted by nurse practitioners to commercial payers and found that nurse practitioners in the 75th percentile generated sizable revenue, billing $1,311,922 per year.
“NPs generate revenue and continue to represent a good return on investment in an era when many healthcare organizations are focusing on cost control,” the report concluded.
Retail chains have made big bets on convenient care models, including CVS’ 2019 announcement of 1,500 planned HealthHubs, Walgreen’s 2022 purchase of VillageMD’s 250 locations and Walmart Health’s clinic expansions planned for 2024.
Each organization has baked nurse practitioners into their labor model, and are all active in the nurse recruitment space, according to the report.
The trends reflect the ongoing shift in the healthcare space, as nurses are sought out for roles and primary care providers report deteriorating workplace conditions.
Last month, 61% of surveyed primary care providers said that the field was “crumbling” amidst higher administrative burden, staffing shortages and reduced reimbursement rates. Nearly 80% said their current workforce was undersized to meet patient demands and just 19% said their office was fully staffed.
