Many physicians in Germany are having trouble filling available positions. As many as 40 percent of healthcare jobs that were vacated during the COVID-19 pandemic remain open, according to a McKinsey survey. Medical assistants, nurses, and medical specialists have been the most difficult positions to fill, note partner Christian Julius and coauthors. Survey respondents also indicated that technology-enabled solutions, such electronic appointment scheduling, could resolve some administrative burdens.
Image description:
A series of vertical stacked bar charts show the percentage of surveyed German physicians who reported difficulty filling open positions for various healthcare positions, by role. The 5 roles listed are medical assistants, nurses, medical specialists, senior medical officers, and assistant doctors. The chart breaks down the responses into 4 categories: “very hard or hard,” “neutral,” “quite easy or not at all difficult,” and “not applicable or don’t know.”
For all roles, most respondents reported finding it very hard or hard to fill open positions, with shares as follows: 68% for medical assistants, 68% for nurses, 66% for medical specialists, 56% for senior medical officers, and 47% for assistant doctors.
The percentage of respondents who reported finding it quite easy or not at all difficult to fill positions varied, with 15% of respondents finding it easy to fill positions for senior medical officers, 13% for assistant doctors, 10% for medical specialists, 10% for medical assistants, and 8% for nurses.
Source: McKinsey Physician Survey Germany, Nov 2022–Jan 2023.
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To read the article, see “German healthcare in the postpandemic era: Physician insights,” August 12, 2024.