Physicians, administrators don't see eye to eye on retirement

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An aging physician workforce means many healthcare professionals are considering retirement. But physicians have different reasons for retirement, and different expectations, than their administrators believe, a new survey from Jackson Physician Search found.

The results show a disconnect between what physicians are planning and what administrators expect. For instance, physicians think a notice of six months is more than enough time, while administrators would prefer one to three years.

Most physicians don't want to fully retire but plan to work part-time or contract somewhere else. Administrators, the data showed, are more likely to believe that when retiring physicians leave they are leaving medicine for good.

Physicians rank burnout as the top reason driving their retirement plans, but administrators believe it's age. Meanwhile, economic concerns have caused four in 10 physicians to delay retirement.

WHAT'S THE IMPACT?

While many physicians may want to retire as soon as possible, the volatile economy has pushed out the timeline for 38% of all respondents. When looking at physicians over age 60, the percentage is slightly higher, with 46% saying they have delayed their plans. 

Of the respondents who have only recently retired, 65% did not begin the process until they were beyond the traditional retirement age of 65. But it's clear from the data that some physicians as young as 50 are cutting back hours and beginning to slow down. The percentage of physicians who report working part-time tripled between the ages of 41-50 (when 4% report working part-time) and 51-60 (when 12% work part-time). The trend increases when physicians reach their sixties, with 17% of those 61-65 working part-time and 29% of those 66-70.

As for the reasons behind retirement, administrators and physicians have very different ideas about the main catalyst for retirement. Half of the administrators believe age is the primary reason physicians retire, but age didn't even make the top three as reported by physicians. Administrators underestimate the effect of burnout, which 24% of physicians say is the main reason for initiating retirement. Other significant factors include lifestyle (23%) and achieving financial stability (22%).

When asked what would cause physicians to consider delaying full retirement, more than half said they would delay if offered part-time status (58%) or flexible schedules (52%). Reducing or eliminating on-call requirements would cause 42% to consider delaying retirement.

No one can predict the exact number and timing of physician retirements, but it seems that many healthcare organizations have yet to formalize a plan. According to the survey, 69% don't have a succession plan to prepare for physician retirements. This aligns with a recent MGMA Stat poll in which 61% of practice managers said they don't have a succession plan for physician leaders.

According to Jackson Physician Search, organizations should have both a long-term succession plan in place and a short term/emergency plan. 

THE LARGER TREND

A record number of physicians are nearing retirement age. According to a 2022 report published by the Association of American Medical Colleges, nearly half (46.7%) of practicing physicians were already over the age of 55 in 2021. This means more than two of every five active physicians will reach age 65 within the next 10 years.

With a projected shortage of nearly 140,000 physicians by 2033, and a shortage of tjree million lower-wage healthcare workers in the next five years, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy sounded the alarm on the country's ongoing healthcare burnout crisis in May.

Twitter: @JELagasse
Email the writer: Jeff.Lagasse@himssmedia.com