Health systems across the country are grappling with how to recruit and retain health care professionals. Student loan repayment programs and sign-on bonuses are now commonplace incentives to attract top talent, especially for high-need specialties and locations. Addressing these challenges is critical to the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) mission to provide care to our nation’s Veterans.
VHA leverages its extensive health education and training program to prepare physicians to enter the field in service of this mission. Interestingly, a recent evaluation by the Partnered Evidence-based Policy Resource Center (PEPReC) found that increasing the size of medical training programs at a VHA medical center was associated with a small decrease in facility productivity and a small increase in staff turnover. However, increasing the size of the programs was also associated with a decrease in the time needed to fill vacant positions.
PEPReC published a brief detailing the impact of VHA physician training programs on facility-level productivity, turnover rates, and time to fill vacancies. For more, read the full brief here.
PEPReC, within the Veterans Health Administration and funded in large part by the Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI), is a team of health economists, health services and public health researchers, statistical programmers, and policy analysts who engage policymakers to improve Veterans’ lives through evidence-driven innovations using advanced quantitative methods.
