Can staff turnover continue to be tamed in medical practices into 2026?

Staffing levels in many medical practices reached a crisis point four years ago, and today, healthcare leaders are focused on retaining their top people and restoring calm after the storm.

About seven medical practices in 10 (70%) report staff turnover in 2025 is either the same (35%) or lower (35%) compared to last year, while 29% say turnover has increased. Another 1% were unsure. The poll had 357 applicable responses.

Where there’s higher turnover

Among practices reporting higher turnover this year, medical assistants (MAs) and front-office staff (receptionists, patient service representatives, and other front-desk roles) were the most frequently cited turnover hotspots. Nearly all practice leaders who saw higher turnover pointed first to their MA and reception teams, followed by nursing roles and, in some cases, specialty technologists (e.g., X-ray techs, mammogram techs, cardiac sonographers).

Where turnover held steady

In practices where turnover held steady year-over-year, MAs and front-office roles continued to experience the highest churn, followed by nursing positions and, occasionally, technologist roles (e.g., radiology, audiology) following behind. To maintain staffing stability, leaders are investing in targeted retention strategies — raising wages, offering sign-on bonuses and market adjustments, and creating clear career pathways through certification programs, structured education stipends, and partnerships for internships or apprenticeships with local schools. They’re also refining recruitment and onboarding by improving candidate screening, extending orientation and training periods, deploying automated phone and self-check-in systems to ease the frontline burden, and broadening sourcing channels to include recent college graduates and regional talent pipelines.

Where turnover is improving

Practice leaders experiencing lower turnover in 2025 highlighted a broad spectrum of roles with high churn — from case managers and lab techs to phlebotomists, billing/coding staff, and front-line administrative positions — yet attribute their success to creative, role-specific interventions. Many have restructured jobs and created tiered career ladders (e.g., MA I and MA II tracks) or new lead roles to offer clear advancement pathways and peer support.

Hiring processes have been beefed up with second-interview stages focused on cultural fit, while wages and educational stipends have been calibrated to market levels. Others are centralizing tasks or retraining staff to foster skill development and reduce burnout. Partnerships with local training programs continue to feed the pipeline, and a handful of practices even pivoted to character-based screening to ensure new hires align with their team-focused culture.

Healthcare worker movement post-pandemic

Seasonally adjusted data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reveal that the average quits rate — employees voluntarily leaving their jobs — in the healthcare sector dropped to 2.2% in 2024. This marks the lowest since the 2018-2020 average of 2.0%). The first months of 2025 are holding steady at that 2.0% level.

But the quits rate doesn’t tell the whole story of the labor market. The seasonally adjusted hires data offer a clearer picture of the opportunities for workers to find employment elsewhere. According to BLS data since 2020 (shown in the graph above):

• In 2020 and 2021, monthly hires averaged just 679,000 — well below the average monthly hires seen in 2022 (760,000) and 2023 (792,000).
• In comparison, in 2024 that number dipped slightly to an average of 758,000.
• Early 2025 data show a further slowdown, averaging 731,000 monthly hires.

Ambulatory care still feeling the strain

Medical group practices experienced a sharp surge in staff turnover to historic highs between 2020 and 2022, driven by pandemic-related stress, burnout, and intense competition from higher-paying employers. This created a volatile staffing environment in which small and medium-sized outpatient practices struggled to maintain continuity and morale.

Among the hardest-hit roles were medical assistants (MAs), whose combination of clinical and administrative responsibilities made them indispensable yet easily lured away for better-paying jobs in hospitals, urgent care centers, or even outside healthcare.

In response, more than two-thirds of medical groups implemented new recruiting and retention strategies, such as pay increases, improving onboarding, and offering career advancement opportunities. Some practices also began hiring EMTs, LPNs, or nursing students to backfill MA roles and expanded training pathways to build loyalty.

Medical billers and coders faced a different type of disruption during the workforce upheaval: increased turnover due to the rapid expansion of remote work. Many experienced professionals transitioned to fully remote roles with insurers, health systems, or third-party revenue cycle companies, often at higher pay than traditional practice settings. In response, smaller practices began offering remote flexibility or outsourcing their billing and coding altogether.

As a recent MGMA data story explored, automation is taking over more repetitive tasks, allowing these roles to shift toward quality control and exception management, prompting changes in both hiring and retention strategies.

Meanwhile, front-desk staff — typically lower-wage roles with historically higher turnover — were swept up in the broader labor churn, as their skillsets are easily transferable to other industries. To combat this, many practices began emphasizing workplace culture, offering flexible scheduling, and cross-training staff to foster growth and investment.

While the worst of the staffing crisis may be over, 2025 marks a turning point. Practices that prioritize retention, adaptability, and internal pipelines are beginning to see improved stability. Still, the labor market remains competitive, and building a resilient team requires intentional effort.

Share your story

Is your organization seeing success in staff recruitment and retention with strategies not mentioned in this article? Let us know at connection@mgma.com.

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