In a previous Sisi’s Signals, we looked at the key risk signals of clinician resignations across an entire health system. But as you dig deeper into Clinician Retention Intelligence (CRI), one thing becomes clear: retention risk is far more nuanced than a single list of risk factors.
This week’s edition looks at how risk signals vary by specialty and individual, looking not just across specialties, but within them.
Within family medicine alone, two clinicians may both be at high risk, but for entirely different reasons. In this week’s visualization, we highlight two example physicians:
- One shows elevated risk driven by a longer scheduled workday than peers, paired with less time spent on administrative tasks and EHR use – a pattern that may signal compression of administrative work into clinical hours.
- Another shows risk tied to more frequent short breaks, increased time spent on vitals, and a higher number of back-to-back appointments – a very different operational profile.
When a family medicine doctor spends less time on administrative processes than his peers, for example, that may signal that he is starting to disengage due to strain and a feeling of overwhelm.
This visualization shows where pressures diverge across specialties and individuals, revealing patterns that aren’t visible when looking at the workforce in aggregate.
While some factors appear across the board, others are far more pronounced within certain clinical roles.
The takeaway: retention strategy works best when it reflects the specific context clinicians operate within – down to the individual – not just broad workforce trends.
Consider it another signal and some food for thought as we continue to explore what the data reveals upstream of clinician turnover.
Xi (Sisi) Hu, Ph.D., Atalan Co-Founder and Chief Economist