Increasing-Yet Varying-Radiologist Workforce Attrition Across Subspecialties.

Area of Science:

• Radiology Workforce Analysis
• Subspecialty Physician Attrition
• Healthcare Economics

Background:

• Previous research indicated higher workforce attrition among subspecialist radiologists compared to generalists.
• Variations in attrition rates across subspecialties may lead to patient access issues for specialized radiologic care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between specific radiologist subspecialties and workforce attrition.
• To analyze trends in attrition rates over time and estimate mean career lengths by subspecialty and gender.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of Medicare-enrolled radiologist data from 2014-2022.
• Subspecialties categorized using Medicare claims data and the Neiman Imaging Types of Service classification.
• Multivariable logistic regression and nonlinear regression models used to identify attrition predictors and estimate career lengths.

Main Results:

• Overall attrition rate was 2.2%, varying from 1.0% (Vascular and Interventional Radiology) to 4.3% (Cardiothoracic Imaging).
• Attrition rates increased across all subspecialties from 2014 to 2022.
• Higher attrition odds were observed for Breast Imaging (OR=1.31) and Cardiothoracic Imaging (OR=1.81) compared to Abdominal Imaging; VIR showed lower odds (OR=0.78).

Conclusions:

• Workforce attrition has risen over time within each subspecialty, with significant inter-subspecialty variation.
• Gender differences in career length were noted, being smaller within subspecialties.
• Urgent, broad recruitment and retention initiatives are necessary to mitigate potential subspecialty shortages.