The healthcare industry is hemorrhaging workers.

More than 4 million workers left the industry in the first eight months of this year alone, according to data released in October from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and previously reported BLS numbers. That equates to about 20% of the entire workforce. More than one in four who leave blame burnout for their decision, according to a survey of 1,000 healthcare workers conducted in April by Notable.

The exodus has HR executives in healthcare scrambling to adapt their approach to better retain employees and attract new talent—a top-of-mind issue for attendees at HR Healthcare, which was held in Austin in late October.

The number of healthcare professionals who’ve left the workforce is “staggering,” said Barry Burns, vice president of HR at San Antonio-based Methodist Healthcare System.

Needing flexibility: When it comes to retaining and attracting staff, hospitals are no longer just competing with one another or with pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens, which have been expanding the healthcare services they offer. They’re also up against Big Tech giants Amazon, retailers like Walmart, and other non-traditional healthcare employers, said Vicki Cansler, senior vice president and chief human resources officer at Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta.

Going hybrid: Even as some talent execs bemoaned the decline of in-person work and emphasized the need to restore connection, executives stressed that a return to the hospital shouldn’t be forced. And yes, many healthcare employees are able to work remotely, said Tiffiny Lipscomb, vice president of HR at Intermountain Healthcare. Keep reading here.—MS

Do you work in healthcare or have information about the industry that we should know? Email [email protected] or DM @MikeSchroederIN on Twitter. For completely confidential conversations, ask Michael for his number on Signal.

Investment in digital health has exploded in the past decade as the healthcare industry and consumers increasingly saw technology as a vital tool to potentially optimize everything from patient care to how we develop pharmaceuticals. Digital health tech has even permeated many of our everyday lives, with the rising popularity of telehealth services like BetterHelp and wearables like the Fitbit your mom bought you for Christmas in 2016. (Let’s be honest, you wore it religiously for three weeks and then never touched it again, right?) But analysts predict investors could be a bit pickier with their money in 2023.

While venture funding for digital health hit an all-time high last year—jumping to $29.2 billion in 2021 from $8.1 billion in 2019, according to data from digital-health seed fund Rock Health—2022 has been a sobering year. Funding dipped to $12.6 billion for the first three quarters, and Tom Cassels, CEO of the fund’s consulting arm, said he expects 2023 to be “pretty much in line with 2022.”

So, where might investors be aiming their dollars in 2023?

Movin’ out: Chris Moniz, a market manager in Silicon Valley Bank’s HealthTech & Devices segment, expects alternative care to be one of the most invested-in areas of digital health in 2023. Alternative care includes care given outside of the traditional hospital setting, like in a patient’s home, said Moniz.

Reducing doctor loads: Software that offloads administrative work for doctors is also a huge area of investment—raking in about $26 billion since 2019, Moniz said. One example is technology that makes it faster for doctors to complete tasks.

Robotic automation: Kaushik Bhaumik, leader of EY Americas’ health technology segment, said we’re going to see a “shakeout” in the robotic process automation segment of digital health in 2023. Keep reading here.—MA, MS

Do you work in healthcare or have information about the industry that we should know? Email [email protected] or DM @MaiaLura on Twitter. For completely confidential conversations, ask Maia for her number on Signal.

Medication adherence, or whether patients are taking their medications as directed, is top of mind for Rite Aid, the company’s CEO Heyward Donigan said on a recent earnings call.

“Every 1% increase in [medication] adherence provides $20 million in gross profit” for Rite Aid, Donigan said.

Nonadherence is a costly problem for pharmacies, which lose money when prescriptions are not refilled accordingly. It also costs the greater US healthcare system a pretty penny. In 2016, ineffective medication therapy, including nonadherence, cost the US about $528.4 billion, or 16% of total US healthcare spend in that year, a study found. Some of the main reasons people don’t take their meds as prescribed are fears of potential side effects, cost, and mistrust of doctors’ motivations for prescribing certain medications, according to the American Medical Association.

“What’s important about improving our customers’ adherence to their medications is not only that it drives script growth for the company, but it also drives better health outcomes and lower healthcare costs for our customers,” Donigan said on the Sept. 29 earnings call.

One way Rite Aid is trying to improve the number of people filling their meds as prescribed is through its Automated Courtesy Refill program. Donigan said that about 600,000 new customers have signed up for the program since July, which refills certain prescriptions automatically and can call providers if necessary. The company expects the program to add $10 million in pharmacy gross profits in FY23, she said.—MA

Today’s top healthcare reads.

Stat: At least 3% of people suffer from binge-eating disorder. (the New York Times)

Quote: “If something happens to them, I’m not certain what would happen to me, especially because I have difficulty with navigating things that require more red tape”—Courtney Johnson, a college student with autism and chronic conditions, on concerns surrounding long-term care without her current support system (NPR)

Read: Nurses in Scotland and Northern Ireland, along with some English nurses, are on strike over pay. (BBC)

Catch up on the top Healthcare Brew stories you may have missed:

• Hospitals are creating internal staffing agencies to stop nurses from flocking to third-party travel agencies
• The latest fall trend? Getting two vaccines at once
• ‘Birthing-Friendly’ designations: How hospitals can earn it, and what the label means