Company overview

Learn more about how our vast array of solutions and best-in-class technologies are powerfully serving the healthcare workforce. 

Our brands

They say you can’t choose your family – but we did. We think you will, too. Our family of companies can tackle problems of any size, big or small. 

Our role in healthcare

Learn more about how we use our unrivaled staffing experience, best-in-class technology, and strategic consultation to help your organization succeed.

Executive leadership

Meet our team of executive leaders who are guiding our efforts to make life better for providers, patients, and healthcare organizations. 

Core values

See how our core values guide all our business decisions and drive us to find new ways to make life better for those we serve in the healthcare industry.

Community impact

Learn more about how we give back to communities both near and far through fundraisers, team activities, medical missions, and more. 

Solutions overview

See how we’re delivering customized workforce solutions that are doing right by our healthcare partners and improving how healthcare is done. 

Technology

Check out our suite of high-tech solutions that perfectly complement our high-touch approach to a future-ready workforce. 

Advisory services

We’re creating customized solutions that support cost containment, drive meaningful results, and pave the way for a more successful future. 

Physicians

See how our experts draw from the industry’s largest locums database to deliver customized solutions such as locum tenens, permanent placement, and telehealth.

Advanced practice

Get insights into how our team of APP-specific experts use in-house credentialing and licensing to deliver the right candidate to your facility.

Allied health

Learn more about the process we use to connect your organization with qualified therapists, technicians, technologists, assistants, and more.

Nurses

Find out what makes our nurse staffing truly stand out in the industry, and how we’re constantly looking for new ways to make the process smoother.

Telehealth

Tap into the nation’s largest network and deepest specialty bench of multi-state license providers to keep your virtual care strategies on track.

Blog

Visit our blog to get workforce insights, catch the latest company updates, and hear important stories from within the healthcare industry.

Resources

Get industry insights, workforce strategies, and more from our resource section. Each video, article, and tool has been created with your success in mind. 

Careers overview

Get the details on how a career at CHG fast-tracks your success and lets you play a role in helping 25 million patients receive care each year.

View jobs

Locations

Get all the details about our various locations nationwide. We have expanded our operations to better serve the needs of the healthcare community.

Benefits

Browse our benefit and wellness programs and learn how our team handpicks the best options to support you as a whole person.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion

Learn about the DEI goals we’re embracing to make our company¬–and healthcare industry at large–a better home for everyone.

Learning and development

See how our award-winning team of trainers can help you develop new skills and pursue the career path that makes you feel the most alive.

Employee stories

Check out stories from our people’s lives that highlight how CHG supports personal growth and helps you make a positive impact in the world.

Flexibility

Learn more about how our commitment to workplace flexibility puts you in the best position to be happy, comfortable, and effective.

Talent network

Visit our Talent network page to apply for a job, communicate with our talent acquisition team, or refer someone else for a job at CHG.

Recruiting process

Learn more about our hiring process and how we seek out the best opportunities for you to make an immediate impact.

The future of primary care: Adapting to patients’ shifting preferences

Physician working in the primary care market

Is the primary care model as we know it in peril? According to a recent survey conducted by Advisory Board on patients’ primary care preferences, it very well could be. And with a predicted shortage of nearly 56,000 primary care physicians by 2032, along with declining profitability, emerging competitors in the primary care market, and a shift in consumer preferences, primary care practices need to take a close look at their business model to stay competitive.

Timely care and ease of use supersede physician loyalty

Advisory Board’s 2019 Updates in Primary Care Consumer Preferences survey asked patients to rank what was most important to them in a primary care visit.  Number one was the ability to walk into the clinic without an appointment and be seen within 30 minutes. Number two? To be seen within an hour without an appointment. This preference for timely care has increased dramatically in five years; in 2014, to be seen within an hour without an appointment was ranked number 39 in priority.

Physician loyalty, meanwhile, has dropped. In 2015, 53% of respondents said they would definitely stay with their primary care provider over the next year. In 2019, that number dropped to 40%. Even more concerning, 45% indicated they would likely not stay with their PCP over the next 12 months. This trend is most pronounced among patients under age 50.

“I think the thing that patients are looking for now — that many providers have been slow to adopt — is giving patients the ability to get in quickly,” says Eliza Campbell, Research Consultant at Advisory Board. “Timeliness and access really trump all.”

New competition within the primary care market

Another important trend is the entrance of disruptors into the primary care space. “We’ve seen a lot of disruption,” says Campbell. “What that means for traditional primary care providers is potentially the need to evolve the model a little bit more.”

These disruptors fall into one of two categories. “Either they’re going after scale — trying to work with patients on a larger platform focused on providing quick, timely access to care — or they’re models like ChenMed, and VillageMD that are going after more specialized services. Traditional PCPs are trying to do a little bit of both, which may not be sustainable.”

Since one in five patients uses an alternative site as their main source of primary care, the emergence of retail clinics in pharmacies and big-box stores — such as CVS and Walmart — is putting new pressure on traditional primary care practices. For example, CVS offers seven-day-a-week, no-appointment-needed care, offering the number one type of service many patients are seeking.

Expanding the role of advanced practice providers

Advanced practice providers (APPs) are also expected to play a critical role in primary care delivery in the future, especially in shortage areas where the challenges of recruiting physicians would otherwise limit access to care.

“We’re seeing this workforce grow drastically,” Campbell says. “APPs are projected to be one of the fastest-growing roles in healthcare. And they’ll play a critical role for a few reasons, but one is that they can see and treat patients as primary care providers. So they are well-positioned to fill those gaps in care that we could see from a PCP shortage.”

One of the challenges to expanding the role of APPs in primary care has been the limitation on their ability to practice autonomously without a supervising physician. However, the COVID-19 pandemic may have generated enough momentum to clear this roadblock in some states.

“During the pandemic, five states issued executive orders to fully suspend requirements for NPs to maintain external contracts with physicians,” says Sophia Thomas, president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP). “It really gives healthcare systems the flexibility to leverage NPs to their full capacity.”

The AANP and other advanced practice organizations are aggressively advocating for more autonomy for PAs and NPs. California has already committed to full practice authority for NPs by 2023.

Consumer preference also appears to be trending toward more acceptance of APPs. Nearly 60% of patients said they were “probably” or “definitely” willing to see a NP or PA for their primary care needs, according to a recent Advisory Board survey about consumer preferences for a primary care clinic. With the looming shortage of primary care physicians, practices and facilities may want to consider using NPs and PAs to help fill gaps in coverage.

The need to remain nimble in primary care

To remain competitive in the primary care market, physicians and facilities alike need to move away from the status quo and consider adapting to consumer preferences and industry trends.

“Primary care providers need to reevaluate their business model and how they want to deliver care for patients within this evolving landscape,” Campbell says. “There are a lot of other organizations now who are trying to do the same thing as them. I would just advise provider organizations to keep their foot on the gas and that these investments will eventually pay off.”

CHG can provide your healthcare facility with the physicians and advanced practice providers you need to grow your organization. To learn more, contact us by phone at 866.588.5996 or email ecs.contact@chghealthcare.com.

About the author

Jen Hunter

Jen Hunter has been a marketing writer for over 10 years. She enjoys telling the stories of healthcare providers and sharing new, relevant, and the most up-to-date information on the healthcare front. Jen lives in Salt Lake City with her husband, two kids, and their two rescue kitties and Golden Retriever. She enjoys all things outdoors-y, but most of all she loves rock climbing and hiking in the Wasatch mountains.

See all articles from this author

Post Archives

Thanks. We received your message and one of our strategic advisors will contact you shortly.