Rethinking Physician Engagement, Flexibility, and Retention in Healthcare

Summary

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Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

Episode Title: Rethinking Physician Engagement, Flexibility, and Retention in Healthcare
Date: May 19, 2026
Host: Lucas Voss (A)
Guest: Matt Brown, VP of Advisory Services and Enterprise Solutions, CHG Healthcare (B)

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Overview

This episode explores the critical challenges health systems face in engaging and retaining physicians, examining recent research from CHG Healthcare. Using data from CHG Healthcare's 2025 Physician Sentiment Research, Lucas Voss and guest Matt Brown dive into the root causes of physician disengagement and reveal actionable strategies that healthcare leaders can use to boost engagement and reduce turnover. The conversation highlights topics such as leadership transparency, flexibility, workforce models, and the integration of technology—particularly AI—into clinical workflows.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. State of Physician Engagement and Retention

• Statistics Highlight:
  • 74% of physicians report satisfaction with their jobs, but only 64% plan to stay.
  • Fewer than a third would recommend their organization to a colleague.
  • Only 18% report being highly engaged.
• These metrics underscore a crisis in not only keeping physicians but also in converting satisfaction into loyalty and meaningful advocacy.
  (01:12–01:53)

2. Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Its Implications

• The current NPS among physicians is -8, comparable to struggling sectors like telecom and government.
• The NPS is the top predictor of organizational loyalty and turnover risk.

Quote:

“The net promoter score... is actually a negative eight. When you look at negative eight across other industries, that sits right there with like telecom, like Comcast, like, and your local government leaders.”
— Matt Brown (01:53)

3. What Drives Physician Engagement?

Matt Brown cites several factors as distinguishing engaged physicians:

• Autonomy: Top priority for engaged physicians.
• Compensation: Still important, but not the main driver.
• Work-Life Balance: Strongly correlated with engagement.
• Transparency and Open Communication: Access to leadership and clarity in decision making.
• Flexibility: Opportunities to control shifts, participate in telehealth, and pursue moonlighting.

Quote:

“The number one that showed up this year was respect for physician autonomy... Then compensation, ...work life balance... open communication and transparent leadership were kind of the next two. For the first time we're seeing... physicians really want to be engaged with their leadership.”
— Matt Brown (02:38)

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Leadership Transparency: The Largest Satisfaction Gap

• Key Data Point:
  • A -39 point gap between the importance physicians place on leadership transparency and their satisfaction with it—the single largest gap in the CHG survey.
• Observed Disconnect:
  • Executives often underappreciate physicians' desire for involvement and clarity.
  • Physicians want genuine input, not just to be seen as "cogs in the machine."
  • Engagement improves when physicians participate in decision-making processes, participate in dyad leadership models, and serve on boards or committees.
• Actions Physicians Want:
  • In-person meetings with executive teams to discuss their ideas and feedback.
  • Visible follow-through on their suggestions and concerns.

Quote:

“There seems to be like a lot of noise from the executive teams... discounting the physician voice. And what we're finding is that in these highly engaged populations, the physician voice is right there with the executive team.”
— Matt Brown (05:15)

Memorable Moment:

“They didn’t want to just do a survey... They wanted to sit down in person with the executive teams and do an in person meeting so that they could communicate clearly and... have those conversations.”
— Matt Brown (06:56)

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Flexibility as a Core Workforce Strategy

• Survey Findings:
  • 74% of physicians would join a flexible float pool.
  • Schedule flexibility now outranks additional pay as a compelling reason to stay.
• Implications for Workforce Models:
  • Systems are shifting to offer in-house gig work, telehealth, moonlighting, and varied shift options, mimicking what’s available from third-party providers.
  • Physicians would prefer to find flexibility within their organization rather than seeking it elsewhere.
• Emergence of “Ubiquitous Physician”:
  • Physicians want the ability to diversify their experiences and income sources while remaining tethered to a single health system.

Quote:

“What we're hearing is we should develop better workforce models so that we can engage our physicians with those type of models as opposed to letting them go somewhere else.”
— Matt Brown (09:02)

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Technology, AI, and Physician Buy-in

• Physician Attitudes:
  • Not resistant to tech, but wary of how it’s implemented—emphasis on inclusion in the decision-making process.
• Risks if Excluded:
  • Without adequate input, adoption falters and skepticism rises.
  • Risk of AI “efficiency” simply leading to increased workload, heightening risk of burnout.

Quote:

“If they don't have a part in crafting the AI strategy... then they won't adopt it.”
— Matt Brown (11:12)

• The Paradox: Clearing 15-20% of physician time via AI is only positive if it translates to less burnout and more meaningful work, not just more patient throughput.

Quote:

“Because we're freeing up, let's say, 15 to 20% of their time... that doesn't mean that we just put 15 to 20% more office visits in their schedule... it could lead to even greater burnout.”
— Matt Brown (12:13)

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Final Takeaways and Action Steps for Leaders

• Leaders should fundamentally rethink the physician workforce—what engagement looks like, how to model flexibility, and how to include physicians in technology decision-making.
• The incoming generation of physicians prioritizes balance and flexibility (seeking 0.5–0.7 FTEs), while many retirements are happening among those who worked more.
• Building dynamic, flexible workforce models with the right partners is essential both to engagement and organizational success.

Quote:

“Let's build better, more dynamic workforce models with the right partners so that we can keep those physicians engaged. We know that they're more productive. We know that they actually generate more revenue for the health system when they're engaged, and it's a better outcome for everyone.”
— Matt Brown (13:46)

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Important Timestamps

• State of physician satisfaction and retention statistics: (01:12–01:53)
• Discussion of Net Promoter Score and factors driving engagement: (01:53–04:16)
• Transparency and communication gaps: (04:16–07:51)
• Flexibility and workforce models: (07:51–10:27)
• Impact of technology and AI on physician engagement: (10:27–13:05)
• Advice for healthcare leaders: (13:37–14:22)

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Notable Quotes

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|-------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:53 | Matt Brown | “The net promoter score... is actually a negative eight. When you look at negative eight across other industries, that sits right there with like telecom, like Comcast, like, and your local government leaders.” | | 02:38 | Matt Brown | “The number one that showed up this year was respect for physician autonomy... For the first time we're seeing... physicians really want to be engaged with their leadership.” | | 05:15 | Matt Brown | “There seems to be like a lot of noise from the executive teams... discounting the physician voice.” | | 06:56 | Matt Brown | “They didn’t want to just do a survey... They wanted to sit down in person with the executive teams and do an in person meeting so that they could communicate clearly and... have those conversations.” | | 09:02 | Matt Brown | “What we're hearing is we should develop better workforce models so that we can engage our physicians with those type of models as opposed to letting them go somewhere else.” | | 11:12 | Matt Brown | “If they don't have a part in crafting the AI strategy... then they won't adopt it.” | | 12:13 | Matt Brown | “Because we're freeing up, let's say, 15 to 20% of their time... that doesn't mean that we just put 15 to 20% more office visits in their schedule... it could lead to even greater burnout.” | | 13:46 | Matt Brown | “Let's build better, more dynamic workforce models with the right partners so that we can keep those physicians engaged.” |

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Tone & Style

The conversation is data-driven and pragmatic, with a consistent emphasis on actionable insights for leaders. Brown and Voss maintain a collegial, candid tone throughout, focusing on practical solutions and direct communication.

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Summary prepared for healthcare executives and staff looking to understand and act on the latest strategies for physician engagement and retention, based on actionable data and first-hand industry insights.

Transcript

[A]

Hi everyone, this is Lucas Voss with Becker's Healthcare. Thanks so much for tuning in to the Beckers Healthcare podcast series.

[B]

It's great to have you.

[A]

Physician engagement and retention have become defining challenges for health systems. Navigating burnout, certainly administrative burden, and tightening clinical workforce. CHG Healthcare's 2025 Physician Sentiment Research surveyed over 900 physicians to uncover the root causes of disengagement and more importantly, to identify those specific actionable strategies that healthcare leaders can dep today to strengthen physician engagement and retention. And joining us to walk through some of the findings, Very excited to do so is Matt Brown, Vice president of advisory services and enterprise solutions at CHG Healthcare. Matt oversees enterprise and strategic advisory solutions at chg, where he helps health systems tackle some of the industry's most complex clinical workforce challenges. With experience spanning startups to large enterprise organizations, he brings a unique perspective on scaling innovation, navigating change, and building strategies that help health systems ad adapt and thrive in an evolving care delivery landscape. Matt, I'm so excited to have you. Thanks for being here.

[B]

Thank you, Lucas. I'm excited to be here with you today.

[A]

I want to touch on some of these statistics because they're pretty staggering and eye opening, quite frankly. Your research found that while 74% of physicians are satisfied with their jobs, which is good, only 64% plan to stay. And this was really surprising to me too. Fewer than a third would recommend their organization to a colleague, which certainly matters in recruiting. Again, that said, about 18% also reported being highly engaged in their organization, which is a positive. Again, what are some of those factors that determine whether a physician is going to be an engaged promoter or again, that disengaged potential detractor?

[B]

Great question. So this was actually pretty eye opening. The net promoter score, the equivalent of that is actually a negative eight. Okay, when you look at negative eight across other industries, that sits right there with like telecom, like Comcast, like, and your local government leaders. Right. Score, negative eight. So that's not a really. It's actually the number one indicator of loyalty to brand and also the number one indicator if someone's willing to leave their organization. So that's why we focus on that net promoter score. And what we did is we then took those highly engaged physicians. The data was pretty clear that there were two cohorts here, like a highly engaged physician set. And we separated that out and went pretty deep on what that cohort looked like. What we found was that in the highly engaged physician set, they had a strong likelihood of staying in the role for more than 12 months, they'd express agreement with trust and alignment in executive leadership. They also had a positive sentiment about the organizational pride and daily engagement that was happening in their work. So, you know, it's essentially the other big piece here is that there's also a, a tighter correlation to their expectations and what was actually being delivered in some key areas. Okay. The number one that showed up this year was respect for physician autonomy. So they wanted lots of autonomy. They feel like their expectations were met from their ability to have that autonomous work. The second was compensation, which always shows up there, but then work life balance was, was the third. And then open communication and transparent leadership were kind of the next two. So this, for the first time we're seeing, you know, the physicians really want to be engaged with their leadership. They want to have access to the executive team, and they also want just transparent decision making. They want to be in the loop and they want to be spoken to very clearly and plainly about what's happening. Now the last one that I'll bring up is flexibility. So we've started to see that flexibility has become very important for this population that's highly engaged. Whether that means that they're doing some telehealth work or moonlighting programs, or they just have some flexibility around the shift coverage that they're doing, the type of shifts that they're working. That flexibility is one of the key indicators for their high level engagement too.

[A]

We'll touch on flexibility here in a little bit. I want to talk about the transparency piece that just mentioned, because I think again, the gap that you've just touched on, the point gap there, the Data identifies a minus 39 point gap between how important physicians rate leadership transparency and how satisfied they actually are with it. And as you just said, it's an important indicator about how leaders are feeling, where they might go, et cetera. And it is the single largest gap in the entire survey. Why does that finding around transparency stand out to you? And again, specifically around transparency, what are leaders missing there?

[B]

I think that there's a disconnect with a lot of these executive teams and how they view their physician population. We're starting to see more of an emphasis on how do we look at the physician population a little bit differently than the rest of our workforce. Okay. We can be even more transparent with our physician pool and where we're going than I think we give them credit for. I think a lot of times the executive team kind of sees the physician as maybe a cog in the machine and they're not really getting them A seat at the table and listening. There seems to be like a lot of noise from the executive teams when they hear physicians that are, you know, either bringing complaints or, or when they have suggestions. There historically maybe had been a little bit of a leaning into like discounting the physician voice. And what we're finding is that in these highly engaged populations, the physician voice is right there with the executive team. Right. So they're, they're listening to them, they have a seat at the table in decision making process. It's not just a complete rvu, you know, it's not just an RVU mill or an RVU model. I've kind of heard that term lately is like, hey, we know that we have to keep up with volumes, but we want to be able to have more of this work life balance. We want to be able to have a say in what we focus on in terms of clinical outcomes. We want to be able to have someone in our department that actually has a voice in the seat at the table. There are certain things that health systems can do to really let their physicians know, number one, that they hear them. But then the other piece of data I thought was interesting is the physicians felt like they weren't pulling through any of their suggestions. They weren't pulling through any of the information that they were getting up. So it was falling on deaf ears. And then, you know, at some point they decide it's not worth, you know, it's not worth me engaging at this point. So I think that that gap is where we're seeing that gap close is in that kind of dyad relationship model where you really have physicians that are on many of your boards and committees and they're engaged in making sure that they, you know, have an opportunity to share up and that, that when it's shared up, gets taken back down. The other piece that I thought was really awesome and the data was that physicians wanted to actually do meetings in person. Okay. So they didn't want to just do a survey and get the information up to their executive team. They actually wanted to sit down in person with the executive teams and do an in person meeting so that they could communicate clearly and, you know, look at, look them in the eyes and have those conversations. So, you know, we do a lot of physician surveys and you know, we're always trying to do engagement surveys across our health systems, but the reality is they, they want a meeting. They want a meeting with the executive team and they want to sit down and have the hard conversations.

[A]

Well, and if we know one thing about humans, Agency and buy in are incredibly important for performance. If I'm bought into the mission and I have the ability to influence right, I'm going to do better. We know that. And that's. This ill illustrates that. The data illustrates that. That's such a crucial piece especially for physicians within organizations. I want to talk more about the flexibility piece too, because again, you've mentioned that's another thing that popped in the survey really, really prominently. Again, the research shows that 74% of physicians would participate in a flexible flow pool and schedule flexibility ranks higher than additional pay, which is very interesting as the reason why. What does that tell you about how that workforce strategy in and of itself needs to evolve right now?

[B]

Well, I, it's funny I just mentioned that I was at a roundtable with a number of CEOs and CEOs this past week and you know, one of the comments that they made consistently was, well, we know our physicians have a lot more options than they ever have. We know that they want to go work in third party opportunities. We try not to have them moonlight, but we know that they're doing it. We know they're doing telehealth. We know that a lot of them are taking locum tenens. And so, you know, what we're, what we're hearing is we should develop better workforce models so that we can engage our physicians with those type of models as opposed to letting them go somewhere else. So many of our health systems are starting to build their own dynamic flow pools so that they can kind of float between a hub and spoke model and get let their physicians get different practice experience. We see them starting to build their own locum Tenens or 1099 models too, so that they can have those physicians go and contract out. They're obviously leaning into telehealth where they can with these specialties and giving the physicians options for that. They also give them opportunities to take up different shifts and to just pick up different gig work within their health system. So it's this idea that if the physician has, you know, I have a physician friend who calls it like it's the rise of the ubiquitous physician population, right. And so if they have options and there are, you know, gig opportunities for them outside of the health system, or they have them inside the health system, most of the physicians actually would prefer that they could do it in house. So we're just seeing this emergence of more models that are, you know, giving the physicians a lot more flexibility and opportunities within the four walls of the health system to go and do These other type of opportunities.

[A]

I think we'd be missing something here too, if we don't talk about the impact of technology on all of the things that we've just touched on specifically, again, buy in. But you also mentioned flexibility. There's so much technology that has an impact on that piece. As you've just touched on, there is a lot of tension when it comes to AI specifically right now. Again, that's the technology that it's on everybody's mind. Physicians aren't necessarily resistant to technology. That's what the data shows. But they are skeptical about how it will be deployed. Again, we come back to the buy in, we come back to the conversations

[B]

that folks need to have, right?

[A]

What's the risk for organizations that move forward on AI, on digital, on technology without physician input?

[B]

So yeah, if they don't have the, again, going back to. They want to be part of the decisions, right. If they don't have, if they don't have a part in crafting the AI strategy with your IT organization or with this, the executive team, then they won't adopt it. Okay. I mean, ambient listening has been around for quite a while now. Physicians use, they're using Claude chatgpt in their, in their practice as they're doing that. I think the expectation is like one, they want to use it for clinical reasons, but they also want to do it for research and other things and it really hopefully will free up their time. And what I think we need to be cognizant of is because we're freeing up, let's say, 15 to 20% of their time. That that doesn't mean that we just put 15 to 20% more clients or 15, 20% more office visits in their schedule. Right. Because now we're going to be leaning into the burnout. So I was just having this conversation with the CEO and he basically was like, I think AI could have the potential to lead to a lot of fringe. The consumers probably uncovering more fringe use cases and seeing physicians more and then physicians freeing up maybe more of their time and us piling more work RVUs or more office visit or more surgeries onto the physician, which in turn could lead to even greater burnout. So the irony here is, you know, it could lead to the exact opposite of the intention at some point. So I think we're going to watch that, I think everybody's watching that to say if we do clear up 15 to 20% of their time, then let's get them so that they can do charting or they can do some of their research or some of those things. So they don't have so much pajama time after their shift and they're putting in their charts. So it's just making sure that we're filling it with the right things if we really are creating that efficiency, giving them their time back.

[A]

We're so much further along with the AI conversation than we were five years ago, but it still feels like we're at the beginning.

[B]

Yes, absolutely.

[A]

There's so much work to be done still there, which is so, so crucial. Matt, it's so great to have you on. Thank you so much for these great insights and again, fantastic data to back all of this up as we're closing out our conversation here today. What's that one thing that leaders that are listening can do, and what do you want them to start differently when they start off their week here next week? What would you tell them?

[B]

I would say that we need to think completely differently about our physician workforce, and we need to look for opportunities where we can lean into the right partners and be able to provide new types of solutions and models that these physicians are going to want to engage in. You've got an aging population that's aging out. We have, you know, a new population coming in. They want to work, like, 0.5 or 0.7 FTEs. The folks who are leaving were probably doing 1.5 FTEs, and so there's a pinch that's happening here. Let's build better, more dynamic workforce models with the right partners so that we can keep those physicians engaged. We know that they're more productive. We know that they actually generate more revenue for the health system when they're engaged, and it's a better outcome for everyone.

[A]

So, Matt, it's great to have you. Thanks for being here.

[B]

Yeah, Lucas, thank you for the time. I really appreciate it. It's been great, Great to have you.

[A]

We also want to thank our podcast sponsor, CHG Healthcare. You can tune into more podcasts from Becker's Healthcare visiting our podcast page at beckershospitalreview.

[B]

Com.