Beyond the labor shortage: Four workforce shifts provider leaders need to know

Healthcare organizations have spent years focused on staffing shortages, but solving this problem isn’t as simple as filling open positions.

The most effective providers are rethinking labor and care delivery, leading to some serious operational shifts: Locum tenens clinicians are becoming an integral part of health system labor strategies, advanced practice providers are helping to reshape care teams, and technology is reducing barriers to access while supplementing workforce efficacy.

In our 2026 Industry Pulse: Providers report, we examine the factors shaping several key trends within the modern provider workforce, what the data shows about those trends, and how provider leaders can think more strategically about them.

For a full breakdown of our insights—and the data behind them—check out the report. Looking for a quick summary? Keep reading.

The forces shaping the trends

Macroeconomic pressures, societal shifts, consumer preferences, and emerging technologies are all impacting the current provider landscape. To fully understand the trends at the heart of our report, you need to understand the factors shaping them:

• An aging clinician workforce precedes an impending retirement wave that’s likely to leave a massive gap in the provider labor force. Plus, by joining the growing senior demographic, recently retired physicians will contribute to the heightened care demands associated with older populations.
• Ongoing burnout and turnover have dipped somewhat since the height of COVID-19 but remains a pressure point for provider workforces around the country. With nearly half of doctors still reporting burnout in 2024, many provider organizations are courting changes to workflow and culture to keep talent engaged.
• Margin pressure on provider organizations has proved unrelenting, and the average health system faces negative margins in 2026. Among some providers, this is driving strategic shifts away from lower-ROI service lines and toward a focus on patient retention.
• The market shift away from inpatient settings continues, spurred in part by cost-saving opportunities and patient demand for access. As more care moves into outpatient settings, float pools, centralized workforce management, and contingent staffing become more critical to provider labor strategy.
• Behavioral health demand is growing, with around 1 in 5 Americans currently living with a behavioral health issue. A lack of available specialists, historically low margins associated with these services, and unpredictable patient volumes could incentivize providers to expand their capabilities—or look beyond their networks—to address the demand.
• Consumer access expectations in healthcare are rising along with expectations around convenience and flexibility outside of the industry. For many systems, meeting these expectations is hindered by lack of staffing, payor friction, and training barriers.

Insight 1: Locum tenens is shifting from emergency coverage to workforce strategy

Locum tenens staffing is no longer reserved for emergencies or unexpected vacancies. Increasingly, health systems are incorporating contingent clinicians into their long-term workforce to improve flexibility, maintain specialty coverage, and support expansion into new markets.

Definitive Healthcare data shows the number of locum tenens providers has grown more than 23% since 2022. Additionally, reporting from staffing company CHG Healthcare shows that 4 in 5 provider organizations reported plans to increase or maintain locum usage in 2025, and the number of physicians working locum tenens in 2024 was up 33% from a decade prior.

As physician shortages persist and recruitment timelines lengthen, many organizations are viewing flexible staffing as a strategic advantage rather than a temporary solution. Provider leaders should consider how locum staffing can support their service lines that are most vulnerable to coverage disruption or help to close access gaps.

However, providers should be careful to ensure temporary staffing tactics aren’t just masking deeper retention issues.

Insight 2: Advanced practice providers are a primary care growth engine

Advanced practice providers (APPs) continue to play an increasingly important role in expanding access to care. As physician shortages grow and demand for primary care rises, organizations are relying more heavily on nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other non-physician clinicians.

Our analysis found that APP counts increased 71% between 2021 and 2025. Certified clinical nurse specialists saw the lowest growth at just 7%, while the broader “non-physician practitioner category (which includes certified nurse-midwives and certified registered nurse anesthetists) grew fastest at 139%.

Our data also shows that claims for home health—a service line heavily staffed by APPs—are up 56% from 2021 through 2025.

Beyond supporting physician capacity, APPs are helping organizations expand outpatient services, strengthen home-based care programs, and improve access in underserved communities. Nearly 9 in 10 nurse practitioners are trained in primary care, making them and other APPs crucial to meeting patient demand amid reduced physician availability.

Forward-thinking provider leaders should determine where APPs are currently driving value in their networks, define APP and physician roles clearly enough to avoid wasteful overlap, and ensure their workforce infrastructures are prepared for an influx of non-physician clinicians.

Insight 3: Behavioral health is moving beyond traditional practice models

Behavioral health demand continues to climb, but care is no longer confined to dedicated behavioral health facilities.

Despite the ongoing need for mental health treatment, our data shows that patient counts at specialized behavioral health facilities actually fell 15% from 2022 to 2025. And while behavioral health remains the largest driver of telehealth utilization, our analysis found that telehealth claims in general are down about 41% since 2020.

Virtual care, integrated primary care models, outpatient services, and community-based programs are reshaping how organizations deliver behavioral healthcare. Providers are increasingly adopting hybrid care models that improve access while making better use of limited clinical resources, reducing reliance on costly dedicated facilities.

Our report asks provider leaders to think about behavioral health demand holistically: Where is it occurring, and how are patients in those markets looking to access it? Are reimbursement models set up to maximize payouts on hybridized behavioral health services? And are existing payor contracts potentially hindering service line access or scalability?

Insight 4: AI-powered technology is a necessary workforce multiplier

Artificial intelligence has moved beyond experimentation and is quickly becoming an operational mandate. In fact, research from the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that broader AI adoption could cut healthcare expenses by up to 10%.

From clinical documentation and scheduling to robotic-assisted surgery and care planning, AI-powered technologies are helping providers improve productivity while easing administrative burden. Our data shows robotic-assisted surgery claims increased 81% from 2020 to 2025, reflecting broader investment in technologies that extend clinical capacity and support higher-quality care.

Aside from improving efficacy and reducing overhead, AI-equipped health systems may be more likely to attract patients seeking high-reimbursing services, as well as physicians interested in practicing in technologically advanced settings.

Provider leaders should proactively consider how AI-supported tech could help them meet procedural demand—but they’ll also need to make sure their workforces are trained and their workflows are equipped to accommodate more automation.

Read the full report

These four trends point to a larger transformation underway across healthcare. Workforce strategy is no longer just about recruitment—it’s becoming a critical driver of organizational resilience, operational efficiency, patient access, and long-term growth.

Healthcare leaders who understand these changes will be better positioned to make informed staffing, technology, and service line decisions in an increasingly competitive market.

Want the complete analysis, supporting data, and strategic recommendations for provider organizations?

Read the full report to explore each trend in depth and learn how data-driven workforce planning can help your organization prepare for what’s next.