MGMA Week in Review: May Job Growth, Public Health Budget Cuts, and 2025 Cost Pressures
Download MP3Hi, everyone. Welcome to the MGMA Weekend Review podcast. I'm your host, Daniel Williams, senior editor at MGMA, along with Colleen Luckett, editor and writer here at MGMA. And in each episode of the Week in Review podcast, we bring you the latest health care industry news, some policy updates, some expert insights, and what I like to think are just stories that Colleen and I find that catch our fancy. Colleen, how are doing?
Colleen Luckett:I'm doing alright. Hopefully, it catches our audience's fancy as well. We try. Anyway, I was gonna ask you actually about the summit conference last week.
Daniel Williams:Did you
Colleen Luckett:have any standout moments for you?
Daniel Williams:Everybody. And I talked about this in a podcast recently, and I can't remember which one. But we had some really interesting sessions. And I'll say the ones that really got me. There was one, a survivor of just a traumatic car wreck, Alison.
Daniel Williams:I don't know her last name right now, but about eighty percent of her body was burned. And boy did she give an inspirational talk about it put things into perspective because I don't know about anybody listening, but I'll stub my toe or I'll just have something be dashed and I just think like the world's ending. And it really puts into perspective about things that happen and how to overcome them and be resilient and how to really take from tragedy and really go to triumph there. So Alison was amazing. Can't remember her last name right now, but if you search main stage people because that is on demand for a little bit longer.
Daniel Williams:I think we got a couple more weeks. The other one was I got to sit in on some of the community live discussions and there's just, it's so good to hear y'all's voices. Colleen and I are always talking and I'm always in webinars with consultants and everything and just to get to hear MGMA members talk about their lives, their challenges, their solutions that they've found, and sharing those with each other is a really cool thing. So you were listening in or attending any of it or no, you were what were you had what'd you have going on, Colleen?
Colleen Luckett:Yeah. I was way out of the loop on that. Okay. That's why I asked. But, yeah, we were busy working on other projects.
Daniel Williams:If you get any free time, I know you could reach out to the events team, and they probably give you a key because they're all gonna be on demand for about another two weeks or so.
Colleen Luckett:Cool. Yeah. Check out the headliner there. That sounds pretty interesting.
Daniel Williams:Oh, yeah.
Colleen Luckett:Need some inspiration. Yeah. Alright. I'm gonna start us off this week with an MGMA announcement, actually. So big news from the data team this week.
Colleen Luckett:We have the twenty twenty five provider compensation and procedural profile. Both of those data sets, they have been officially launched. And this is a shift actually from previous years where the procedural profile data typically released in September. But this year, we launched both data sets together to better serve our members and align productivity benchmarks with compensation data. So one cool thing is that we've expanded the scope of the specialties.
Colleen Luckett:So we now include neurology hospitalists, cardiothoracic surgery generally, and then also cardiothoracic surgery in pediatrics, and nurse practitioner and physician assistants in cardiovascular surgery and hyperbaric medicine and wound care. And for those of you who've been asking for smoother data dive experience, we heard you. The platform has a brand new look and feel with redesigned navigation, a left side carousel for selecting filters and benchmarks, and new top menu buttons. Search functionality is now built right into the carousel, and you can trend data across five years without needing to build a custom report, which is awesome. You'll also find enhanced export options.
Colleen Luckett:We have Excel, CSV, or PDF, plus easier access to your saved reports and recently viewed sessions. And this marks the beginning of a more streamlined intuitive data dive with more improvements to come throughout the year, so stay tuned. And congrats to all of my colleagues who helped bring this launch to life. If you all listening haven't had a chance to explore the new tools yet, now is a great time to jump in. You can find all our data dive reports on our website at datadive.mgma.com.
Colleen Luckett:And as I said, more to come. Okay, Daniel. Over to you.
Daniel Williams:Alright. Thanks, Colleen. You know that feeling when your inbox is full of doom and gloom? I'm sure you do as I do and Colleen. And then one little stat makes you sit up straight.
Daniel Williams:This is that moment. It's now. Health care. I had to double check this. Health care added a jaw dropping 62,200 jobs in May.
Daniel Williams:And it's not random. It's happening where we need it most. This scoop and this article comes from medical economics by Richard Peyerchen. It was published on June the sixth of this year and beyond the headline, there are some interesting details. Hospitals brought on 30 new hires.
Daniel Williams:Ambulatory, that's outpatient and physician services, 29, zero and skilled nursing facilities picked up another 6,000 roles. Put that in context, the healthcare sector has been averaging about 44,000 jobs added per month over the past year. So May is well above that trend and get this, medical equipment repair, those critical folks who power up MRIs and ventilators are in crazy high demand. So, if you're looking for them, you're not alone. It's projected to grow 18% by, this is out there a bit, 2033 with starting salaries around 65,000 and no four year degree needed and a looming shortage as many current technicians retire.
Daniel Williams:And this is according to businessinsider.com. On the flip side, elder care roles, home health aides, assisted living staff, these are under strain. Over the past three months, hiring in elder care slowed to 28,200 a month, down from 37,700 in 2024. This is partly due to fewer immigrant workers entering the field according to barons.com. You feel that these roles aren't just jobs, they're people caring for our parents and our grandparents.
Daniel Williams:Stepping back, The US economy added a 139,000 jobs total in May with unemployment steady at 4.2, but not everything's rosy. We've all heard about it. The federal government shed 22,000 jobs in May totaling 59,000 jobs lost since January. So what's the vibe here? Private sector, especially healthcare, is doing the heavy lifting.
Daniel Williams:But within healthcare, we're seeing both opportunity and cracks with critical tech roles skyrocketing while elder care jobs are getting squeezed. So that's the gist of it. Colleen, I'm gonna turn this over to you.
Colleen Luckett:Alright. Turns out the only thing rising faster than summer temperature is your operating budget. According to our June 10 MGMA stat poll, 90% of you said that your 2025 year to date operating costs are higher than this time last year, and only 8% of you reported costs staying flat, and just 3% saw any decrease. Basically, the same story as 2024. The top drivers of increased costs are, of course, labor, supplies, tech investments, and vendor surcharges.
Colleen Luckett:So with salary with labor, salaries, benefits, and competitive pay adjustments, they remain the biggest budget eater of all. Supplies, especially with vaccines and injectables, and then with tech investments and vendor surcharges, it's tied to global economic factors as usual. Here's mainly how they did it. So by reducing support staff and optimizing team size, bringing billing back in house, and upgrading tech to streamline As for stable expenses, here's how some of you did it. You improved your inventory tracking.
Colleen Luckett:You tightened expense control and budgeting, facilitated better vendor contracts, and focused on workforce stability and centralized services. And here's roughly where your money is going. Support staff gets about 20 to 30% of your revenue. Provider compensation is up to 40%. Clinical supplies and drugs is about five to 15%.
Colleen Luckett:IT facilities, billing, and other overhead, these are getting smaller percentages, but they still add up over the year. So what's coming up next? Medical leaders should expect continued pressure from ongoing labor shortages, energy volatility, high malpractice insurance, and slow moving payer reimbursement changes. So practices are tackling rising costs with a mix of creativity, tech, and negotiation. The bottom line is that the new normal isn't cheaper, it's just smarter.
Colleen Luckett:So as usual, we'll drop the link to the article in the show notes so you can check out the full poll results. And, hey, if you're not already part of our weekly text polls, sign up for MGMA stat by texting s t a t or stat to 33550, or you can visit our website, mgma.com/mgma-stat. Your insights shape the data we share, so go ahead and sign up. Alright, Daniel. Back to you.
Daniel Williams:Yeah. Thanks so much for that update, Colleen. Alright. This next story really resonated with me. It's easy to get caught up in systems and workflows but sometimes, the real win comes from getting back to basics and that's making sure patients feel heard, understood, and taken care of and that's at the heart of a piece I came across in Physician's Practice.
Daniel Williams:It was published on June 10 and it was written by a buddy of ours who's appeared on the MGMA Podcast that's Susan Montmoney and her co author Marlene Eisenhower. The title says it all, Three Strategies to Strengthen Patient Engagement and Reduce Risk. And it's not just a feel good advice that's being put out there. There's data behind it as well. According to the authors, 34% of liability claims and 65% of indemnity payouts trace back to some kind of communication breakdown.
Daniel Williams:And here's what really struck me. Almost half of those payouts happen in office or clinic settings. That's not in the OR. It's not in the ER. This is the front desk, the exam room, those everyday moments.
Daniel Williams:So what can practices actually do to improve? The strategy the authors offer is to make engagement intentional. That starts way before the patient even walks through the door with things like clear appointment reminders. And I'll tell y'all right now, I went to the dentist yesterday. My jaw and teeth are still a little bit sore from that, but I love their communication.
Daniel Williams:You know what they do? They send me a text a couple of weeks before because a dentist appointment, you make six months in advance. So, a couple of weeks out, I receive a text reminder and then the night before, I get another text reminder they ask me, please put a C in here to confirm or an S to stop saying I had to cancel and need to reschedule my appointment. I love that. So, let's get to the next thing.
Daniel Williams:The one is simple but so often overlooked. Drop the medical jargon. Instead, aim for a real conversation. Ask questions. Listen.
Daniel Williams:Reflect it back. When a patient feels like you're actually with them, not just checking boxes, that's where trust is built. I'm going go back to my dental appointment yesterday. They know who I am. Maybe they don't memorize every single thing about me, but they've got it in notes somewhere and they pay attention to them.
Daniel Williams:They know the name of my wife patient and my daughter who's a patient and they ask us what's going on. So, they ask, what kind of plans do you have this summer? And I told them, the whole family is going to be in Barcelona for a week for my wife and me and eight weeks for my daughter. So, we chatted all about that and then the dentist said I'm going to Barcelona in October. So we got a big chuckle out of that as well.
Daniel Williams:So that's the kind of thing that can really connect you with a patient. The strategy. It's about training your whole team, not just the physicians, to respond with empathy and clarity. A receptionist who knows how to de escalate a tense moment or a nurse who can explain a next step in plain language. That can be the difference between a smooth visit and one that results in a complaint or even worse.
Daniel Williams:Stronger engagement isn't just about satisfaction scores. It's a real strategy for reducing risk, avoiding those untimely missteps, and what my dentist did for me, building loyalty. I'm giving a referral to my dentist right now. And in this environment, that kind of connection isn't just nice. It's necessary.
Daniel Williams:So with that said, Colleen, what's next?
Colleen Luckett:My last piece is titled public health has taken a huge black eye with federal cuts. It was published on June 11, written by Ron Southwick. It's not often you hear the phrase a huge black eye used to describe federal policy decisions, but that's exactly how public health leaders are characterizing recent budget cuts coming out of Washington. Here's the story. There's growing concern among health care professionals after the Trump administration cut major funding streams for medical research, infection control, and support for state and local health departments.
Colleen Luckett:These aren't just administrative trims. They're actually deep cuts that experts say are already weakening our public health infrastructure. So what's been cut? Hundreds of grants to hospitals and universities, $11,000,000,000 in COVID relief funds rescinded from state and local governments, and the CDC Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee, a behind the scenes but essential body that helped set national standards for infection prevention. It's been completely dissolved.
Colleen Luckett:That committee didn't grab headlines, but its role was critical. One expert compared it to a conductor guiding an orchestra, and now there's no one at the podium. On the ground, the consequences are already showing up. Some counties that once had six infection preventionists are down to just one. Hospitals are laying off infection control staff, and local health departments are watching experienced professionals leave, worried that more funding cuts are just around the corner.
Colleen Luckett:The long term concern is clear. We're dismantling systems that took decades to build. And according to Devin Jopp, CEO of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, We didn't learn the lesson of COVID. He warns that if another infectious disease outbreak hits, we may not be ready or able to respond in time. Looking ahead, the administration has proposed even deeper cuts in the 2026 fiscal year, including more than 40% slash from both the CDC and the n I NIH.
Colleen Luckett:Democratic attorneys general in 23 states have filed suit to stop the rollback of COVID funds, and a judge has temporarily blocked it. But many public health leaders say the damage is already being done. This goes beyond budgeting. It's a workforce issue. It's a readiness issue.
Colleen Luckett:And, ultimately, it's a patient safety issue. As Jopp put it, quote, we're not just stepping back. We're setting ourselves up for serious danger down the line. We will be following this closely, especially as health care organizations may be expected to absorb more public health responsibilities without the public health resources to back them up. So as a reminder, that was from chief health care executive, and we'll provide a direct link to that story and all of our resources in the episode show notes.
Colleen Luckett:So check those out. And that is a wrap for me, Daniel. Back to you.
Daniel Williams:And that is a wrap for this MGMA Weekend Review podcast. Thank you so much everyone for being part of this community and being faithful listeners. And as Colleen and I have said in the past, please reach out to us. We'll put our direct emails in the episode show notes. So send us a link.
Daniel Williams:Send us a story or let us know if you wanna be part of MGMA Weekend Review. Colleen and I were talking offline, and we'd love to hear your voices. You want to call in, and we'll record you, and let us hear what's going on in your practice. Until then, thank you so much, and have a great weekend.
Colleen Luckett:See you next week.
