2002 Wage and Vacancy Survey of Medical Laboratories Part II: Modest Easement of Staffing Shortage

Abstract

Part I of the 2002 Wage and Vacancy Study appeared in the September issue of Laboratory Medicine. 1 That report focused on the response rates by laboratory type and the wages associated with 12 categories of clinical laboratory staff. The detailed methodology related to the design of the questionnaire, sample size, response rate, and sampling error were previously described. This report will cover vacancy rates for 12 categories of clinical laboratory staff—medical technologist (MT), MT supervisor, MT manager, cytotechnologist (CT), CT supervisor, histotechnician (HT), histotechnologist (HTL) and HT/HTL supervisor, medical laboratory technician (MLT), MLT supervisor, phlebotomist (PBT), and PBT supervisor, as well as recruiting and hiring practices for these positions as reported by laboratory managers. The primary objective of this study was to determine whether or not there is a shortage of nationally certified or licensed technical personnel and to understand the distribution of the personnel shortages. This survey was also designed to determine the vacancy rates for certified or licensed staff positions compared to non-certified or non-licensed staff positions. Methods Budgeted and Vacant Positions: Each laboratory manager surveyed was asked to respond to the number of certified/ licensed budgeted positions and number of non-certified/nonlicensed budgeted positions for each staff position. They were also asked to indicate the number of certified/licensed vacant positions and the number of non-certified/non-licensed vacant positions. The mean number of the budgeted positions and the mean number of the vacancies for each category were then calculated. The vacancy rate is the mean for the vacancies divided by the mean number of budgeted positions. Vacancy rates are sub-stratified by the following employer groups—laboratory type (hospital, private clinic/reference laboratory, private doctors practice group, and outpatient clinic), hospital size (less than 100 beds, 100-299 beds, 300-499 beds, and 500+ beds), practice setting (rural, suburban, small/medium sized city and large city) and region of the country (Northeast, South Central Atlantic, East North Central, West North Central, West South Central, and the Far West). Samples with fewer than 30 for the employer types are too small for statistically significant comparisons and will not be given in this report. Results Vacancy Rates: T1 through T7 show the vacancy rates for each of the 12 staff categories by employer group. T1 reveals that the overall vacancy rate for certified/licensed MT staff is 7.0%, while the vacancy rate for non-certified/non-licensed MT staff is 4.1%. The mean number of budgeted positions (not shown) per facility was 17.5 certified MT staff positions, while the mean number of budgeted positions for non-certified/nonlicensed MT staff was found to be 5.2 per facility. Certified/licensed vacancy rates exceed 10% in hospitals with less than 100 beds (11.1%), hospitals with 100-299 beds (11.7%), rural areas (10.4%), and in the West South Central region (10.2%). The lowest certified/licensed vacancy rates were found in private/clinic/reference laboratories (4.8%) and hospitals with