10 ways to keep your best staff when the raises run out

The raises that carried medical practices through the post-pandemic labor crunch are running out of road. MGMA's 2026 DataDive Management and Staff Compensation Report, released in June, finds pay gains for practice staff cooled this year even as hiring pressure held firm. After several years of catch-up raises, many practices have hit the ceiling of what their budgets can absorb.

The pressure shows up everywhere administrators look. A May MGMA Stat poll found 56 percent of practices say medical assistant hiring got harder in the past year, with hospitals often winning the wage competition. Wage compression is quietly eroding loyalty among veterans: the 2026 data set found median pay for nurses with 21 or more years of experience runs just $298 above the median for those with five or fewer. And 37 percent of practice leaders named workforce their biggest area of new investment this year, ahead of health IT and revenue cycle.

None of that means retention is out of a practice's hands. It means the next round of gains has to come from management rather than the payroll line: how roles are priced, how work is designed and how people see a future in the practice. Here are 10 places to start.