Möbius Develops Monitoring System for Medical Workforce Balance

Article

Möbius built a system for Planning Commission to monitor shortages and surpluses of medical specialists, supporting evidence-based workforce planning.

Strategic Challenge

The demand for and supply of qualified healthcare professionals are never perfectly balanced. While some flexibility exists in how healthcare professionals are utilized, this imbalance can become significant in two directions: a shortage (under-supply) or a surplus (over-supply).

To better monitor this situation among medical specialists, the Planning Commission – Medical Workforce required a measurement system to complement its existing detailed workforce data in Belgium. This new tool would enable members of the Commission to make decisions based on broader insights into the situation both inside and outside hospitals.

This project was professionally guided by Möbius consultants and delivered excellent results. Key elements were identified to support reflection on the imbalance between supply and demand for healthcare professionals. New data were gathered in domains where little information was previously available. The dashboard is a valuable tool for workforce planning and strengthens the Commission’s recommendations.

Pascale Steinberg Head of the Health Professions Planning Unit

Approach

Möbius investigated possible approaches to monitor the labour-market situation of medical specialists within and outside hospitals across Belgium. The study examined which indicators could measure the balance between supply and demand, and which data sources and measurement channels already existed or could be established.

The first phase involved exploring potential indicators and developing a proposal for the monitoring system. Möbius began with desk research on existing sources (screening for relevant indicators and conditions) and conducted about 30 exploratory interviews with key stakeholders, including:

Professional associations and unions of medical specialists

Hospital federations, chief medical officers, and department heads

Health insurance funds and patient associations

Experts in general medicine and academia

Employment services (VDAB, Actiris, FOREM) and Doctors4Doctors

International cases were also studied.

In total, 33 potential indicators across 12 domains were identified and evaluated using predefined criteria. A refined selection was then presented to and discussed with the Steering Committee, after which the final indicators were further developed.

Next, Möbius collected data for the selected indicators across several pilot specialties. These were chosen to ensure that key characteristics were represented, enabling future application across all regulated medical specialties (e.g., presence of on-call duties, dependence on expensive medical equipment, etc.).

For about half of the indicators, existing data from administrative bodies (INAMI/RIZIV and FPS Public Health) were used. For the remaining indicators, a new measurement instrument was designed and tested in close consultation with stakeholders.

Finally, a bilingual survey was carried out among hospital chief physicians and individual medical specialists in the pilot disciplines.

To visualize the results, Möbius developed an interactive online dashboard that integrates administrative data and survey outcomes.

Results

The online dashboard enables the Planning Commission – Medical Workforce of the FPS Public Health to view results for pilot specialties by region and province. A comprehensive final report was also delivered, documenting the study, data sources, and definitions.

The provided questionnaires and tools allow the Planning Commission to expand the dashboard to other medical specialties. This will help continuously monitor the situation in the future and strengthen evidence-based workforce planning in healthcare.

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