Key Takeaways
- Specialist shortages are worsening, with a projected deficit of 86,000 physicians by 2036.
- Inefficient specialist staffing increases costs, delays care, and contributes to care team burnout.
- Overreliance on locum tenens is financially unsustainable and disrupts continuity of care.
- Technology-driven solutions, like hybrid coverage models and intelligent automation, improve efficiency and reduce costs.
- Hospitals that modernize specialist staffing will improve patient outcomes, reduce burnout, and enhance financial sustainability.
Inadequate specialist staffing creates inefficiencies.
Hospitals nationwide are grappling with a worsening specialist shortage—one that threatens patient care, operational efficiency, and financial stability. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) projects a deficit of up to 86,000 specialists by 2036,1 making it increasingly difficult for hospitals to maintain consistent specialty coverage.
But the cost of inadequate specialist staffing isn’t just about recruitment. Gaps in specialty care create cascading inefficiencies, delaying treatment, increasing physician burnout, and straining hospital resources. Addressing these challenges requires more than filling vacancies—it demands a strategic shift in how hospitals deploy and optimize specialist physicians.
5 costs of inefficient specialist staffing
Specialist shortages don’t just create temporary inconveniences—they disrupt hospital operations, overburden care teams, and negatively impact both patient outcomes and financial performance. Hospitals struggling with inefficient specialist staffing often feel the strain in multiple areas, from rising costs to declining physician retention.
Below, we break down five key ways inefficient specialist staffing impacts hospitals—and what can be done to fix them.
1. Financial strain
Specialist staffing inefficiencies place a significant financial burden on hospitals:
- Hiring a specialist is expensive. The average recruitment cost per hire, including advertising, interviews, and relocation, exceeds $250,000.2
- Vacant specialist roles result in millions of dollars in lost revenue as care delays and diversions impact service line profitability.
- Hospitals relying on locum tenens physicians for extended periods can see staffing costs increase by up to 50 percent compared to full-time physicians.
2. Reduced productivity
When hospitals lack timely access to specialists, the entire care team’s efficiency suffers—leading to longer patient wait times, care delays, and workflow bottlenecks:
- Emergency and inpatient teams lose valuable time waiting for specialist consults, leading to delayed treatment decisions and extended LOS.
- Hospitalists and nurses must manage complex cases beyond their scope while awaiting specialist input, diverting time from other critical patients. The alternative – transferring the patient- also takes resources and diminishes revenue.
- Delays in specialist access increase administrative burdens, as care teams repeatedly escalate consult requests, document status updates, coordinate follow-ups, and, in many cases, transfer the patient —wasting hours that could be spent on direct patient care.
3. Burnout and attrition
When specialist staffing is inadequate, the burden falls on the physicians and care teams who remain, stretching them too thin and increasing the risk of burnout:
- Specialists in short-staffed hospitals are often required to be on call even when off shift, which leaves them without true recovery time and contributes to long-term fatigue.
- Hospitalists, nurses, and other team members must manage complex cases outside their expertise while awaiting specialist input, adding stress and the potential for errors.3
- Chronic understaffing leads to a cycle of overwork and frustration, pushing experienced physicians to leave, which in turn worsens the strain on those who stay.
4. Compromised patient care
When specialist coverage is inconsistent, patient care suffers. Delays in access to the right expertise often result in unnecessary transfers, prolonged hospital stays, and poorer health outcomes:
- Without timely specialist consults, more patients are transferred to other facilities, increasing costs, delaying care, and straining both the sending and receiving hospitals.
- Longer wait times for specialist evaluations keep patients in the ED for extended periods, creating bottlenecks, increasing ED crowding, and negatively impacting overall patient flow.
- Poor access to specialists can delay diagnoses or the start of critical treatment—particularly for complex or high-acuity patients—leading to suboptimal outcomes.
5. Overdependency on locum tenens providers
Locum tenens providers are important in filling temporary gaps, but relying on them as a primary staffing strategy is costly and disruptive.
- Hospitals pay 30–50 percent more for locums compared to full-time hires, making extended use financially unsustainable.4
- High turnover forces hospital teams to constantly adjust, disrupting workflows and continuity of care.
- Long-term dependence on locums prevents hospitals from developing sustainable coverage models (like fractional FTEs or on-demand coverage), limiting opportunities for strategic workforce planning and innovation.
A Better Way Forward: How hospitals can fix specialist staffing gaps with technology
Addressing specialist shortages requires more than traditional recruitment efforts—hospitals must rethink how they deploy and support their specialists. By leveraging technology and innovative staffing models, hospitals can increase efficiency, reduce costs, and improve patient outcomes without overburdening their existing workforce.
- Hybrid Coverage Models: Combining Onsite and Remote Specialists
Hospitals can optimize their specialist workforce by blending onsite and virtual care models. Giving hospital-employed specialists the flexibility to consult remotely reduces burnout while ensuring patients receive timely care. Additionally, integrating remote specialists into hospital workflows allows for on-demand specialty coverage without the high cost of full-time hires, improving both access and efficiency. - Hub-and-spoke coverage powered by intelligent automation
Rather than relying on outdated call schedules, hospitals can adopt smart specialist assignment models that use automation to route consults based on case type, provider availability, experience, and workload. This enhanced hub-and-spoke approach makes it possible for multiple specialists to provide virtual consults across multiple sites (many to many coverage models), ensuring high-acuity cases receive priority while balancing workloads across the network. - Advanced EHR Integrations for Faster Consults
Time-consuming administrative tasks slow down specialist workflows and reduce productivity, and contribute to burnout.5 Advanced integrations with EHRs and other hospital systems automatically surface key clinical data—imaging, lab results, and prior consult notes—so specialists have immediate access to critical information. This eliminates redundant data gathering, allowing physicians to see more patients in the same amount of time. - On-Demand Virtual Coverage Without Disrupting Hospital Workflows
A well-integrated virtual specialty care platform can seamlessly connect hospitals with specialists, allowing them to tap into a network of remote providers on demand while ensuring that consults, documentation, and communication remain within the hospital’s existing systems. This minimizes disruption for both onsite and remote providers while maximizing efficiency. - Real-Time Data and Performance Insights
Access to real-time data on consult volumes, response times, and patient outcomes enables hospitals to fine-tune their coverage models. These insights allow administrators to adjust workflows, reduce delays, and ensure the right specialists are available when and where needed.
Hospitals that adapt will lead the future of specialty care
By embracing technology-driven staffing strategies, hospitals can break free from inefficient specialist staffing models and create a more sustainable, cost-effective approach to specialty care. The benefits include:
- Lower costs – Reducing locum tenens reliance and optimizing specialist utilization cuts staffing expenses.
- Improved physician retention – Smarter workload management and work-life balance reduce burnout and attrition.
- Better patient outcomes – Faster specialist access leads to higher patient satisfaction and improved clinical outcomes.
These solutions help hospitals navigate ongoing workforce shortages and improve care quality, physician experience, and long-term financial stability. The time for transformation is now. Inefficient staffing models are no longer sustainable—but the solutions to fix them already exist.
Learn how AmplifyMD is helping hospitals nationwide optimize specialist staffing.
