Workforce Shortage

Stuttgart – November 03, 2026 -- Some 86 percent of surveyed manufacturers name missing internal resources as a hurdle to modernizing or introducing ERP systems, making it the most frequently cited obstacle in a new Planat GmbH study, even as 51 percent report high or very high pressure to upgrade.

The report "ERP-Herausforderungen 2026/2027" draws on a survey of 150 companies in the manufacturing sector, across different company sizes. Of those, 64 percent have concrete plans, or at least a general intention, to invest in ERP, digitalization or process automation within the next two years.

Project effort and data quality each draw 83 percent of respondents

Heavy project workload and data migration or data quality each reach roughly 83 percent. Cost and budget restrictions limit about 77 percent. Multiple answers were allowed.

WINDHAM, N.H. – October 30, 2026 -- Ambulatory surgery center (ASC) volumes are projected to grow 24% over the next decade, while national workforce projections point to clinician shortages in 2027 across specialties that drive ASC case volume. Medicus Healthcare Solutions, a locum tenens and healthcare workforce company, released a report compiling industry research, national data and its own proprietary data on the trend.

Outpatient settings now handle more than 80% of surgeries

The report, titled "Ambulatory Surgery Centers: Market Growth, Workforce Pressures, and Operational Demands," finds that more than 80% of surgeries are now performed in an outpatient setting. About 90% of ASCs have some degree of physician ownership.

Maryland, Georgia, Idaho and Arizona lead on ASC density

These four states have the highest number of ASCs per 100,000 residents, according to the report.

SAN DIEGO – October 30, 2026 -- QuidelOrtho Corporation (Nasdaq: QDEL) released episode 62 of its Science Bytes podcast, in which a senior executive argues that AI cannot deliver reliable insights in clinical laboratories until underlying lab data is standardized, reliable and traceable.

The episode features Rodney Guzman, Vice President of Software Engineering for Global Informatics Platforms at QuidelOrtho, and is hosted by Josh Casey. Guzman outlines how structured informatics can turn results from discrete laboratory systems into clinical knowledge.

Labs face rising test volumes, specialist shortages and siloed data

Laboratories are dealing with growing complexity and testing demand, according to the discussion. Lab data has historically sat in silos, and labs need ways to integrate it to speed clinical decision-making. Workforce shortages compound the problem, particularly specialists who manage complex testing scenarios.

United States – October 17, 2026 -- Andor Health is combining its ThinkAndor platform with PsynergyHealth's virtual clinical workforce to support CMS Rural Health Transformation initiatives, targeting rural providers that cannot add staff.

ThinkAndor automates documentation and care coordination

ThinkAndor uses multimodal, agentic AI to listen to clinical encounters, generate documentation automatically and coordinate care across electronic health records. Ambient AI captures and summarizes clinical conversations in real time, which removes manual documentation and redundant data entry. Coordination agents also automate referrals and follow-ups.

Seattle – October 15, 2026 -- Nearly 650 Horizon Air pilots held an informational picket in Seattle and Boise, pressing the Alaska Air Group subsidiary to settle a contract after almost four years of negotiations.

The pilots are represented by Teamsters Local 1224. The union says talks cover wages, staffing and training shortages, and operational concerns affecting both employees and the airline's future.

Union says Horizon pilots fly nearly as much as Alaska Airlines pilots but are paid below industry standards

Local 1224 argues that Horizon pilots perform nearly the same amount of flying as their counterparts at parent-carrier Alaska Airlines. It blames the pay gap on the company's refusal to negotiate a fair agreement.

Henry Simkins, Chair of Local 1224's Horizon Executive Council, said management is "dragging its feet" on a contract and that operational dysfunction has become impossible to ignore in bargaining.

Windham, N.H. – October 08, 2026 -- Emergency department volumes in the United States are projected to grow 6% over the next decade, intensifying pressure on an already strained emergency care system, according to a new report from Medicus Healthcare Solutions.

Medicus releases 2026 edition of national emergency medicine workforce report

The locum tenens and healthcare workforce solutions company published "A System Under Strain: Rising Demands in Emergency Medicine," a data-driven analysis combining national statistics, industry research, and proprietary insights into physician staffing patterns.

Rosemont, Ill. – September 28, 2026 -- More than 75 million people in the United States live in a county without a vascular surgeon, according to new county-level data released by the American College of Surgeons (ACS), exposing a care gap as the population most vulnerable to vascular disease grows sharply toward 2030, when all baby boomers will be at least 65.

New mapping tool counts just 4,685 vascular surgeons across 3,144 U.S. counties

The ACS Surgical Workforce Mapping Tool, built with the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS), found an average of 1.4 vascular surgeons per 100,000 people nationwide. While 290 hospital referral regions contain at least one vascular surgeon, 2,320 counties within those same regions have none, showing that regional averages mask local access failures.

Washington – September 28, 2026 -- More than 15 million Americans live in one of 1,180 US counties with no general surgeon, according to a national analysis unveiled at the ACS Clinical Congress 2026 and published simultaneously in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

Study maps 12 surgical specialties across all 3,144 US counties for the first time

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill identified 201,394 surgeons practicing nationwide as of April 2025, equal to 59.2 surgeons per 100,000 people. Of the country's 3,144 counties, 951 (30%) had no identified surgeon in any of the 12 specialties, affecting 9.6 million people, while 1,180 counties (38%) had no general surgeon, affecting 15.1 million.