Staffing is one of the most persistent challenges facing medical practices today. Recruiting qualified employees is difficult. Retaining them is even harder.
When practices struggle with hiring or turnover, compensation is often the first thing examined. But salary alone rarely tells the full story. Benefits play a critical role in how a practice is perceived by current and prospective employees, and many practice leaders are surprised to learn how their offerings compare to peers across Maryland.
That is where benefits benchmarking becomes valuable.
What Benefits Benchmarking Really Means
Benefits benchmarking looks beyond what a practice offers and evaluates how those benefits stack up against similar practices in the same region, specialty, and size.
This includes areas such as:
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Health insurance plan structure and employer contribution levels
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Retirement plan availability and matching
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Paid time off policies
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Disability and life insurance offerings
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Ancillary benefits such as mental health support or wellness programs
Benchmarking is not about keeping up with every trend. It is about understanding whether your benefits align with market expectations and support your long-term staffing goals.
Why Practices Often Fall Behind Without Realizing It
Many practices design their benefits package during early growth and then carry it forward year after year with only minor adjustments.
Over time, this can create gaps:
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Contribution levels that no longer feel competitive
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Plan designs that employees find confusing or restrictive
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Benefits that made sense at five employees but not at twenty-five
Because benefits evolve gradually, it is easy to miss when a package has fallen out of alignment with the market.
The Maryland-Specific Factor
Healthcare employment conditions vary significantly by region. What works nationally or even regionally may not reflect the realities of Maryland’s healthcare workforce.
Maryland practices are competing for talent with:
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Large health systems offering expansive benefit packages
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Specialty groups with highly tailored plans
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Practices that have already adjusted benefits in response to post-pandemic expectations
Benchmarking against Maryland-specific data provides a more accurate picture than relying on national averages alone.
The Cost of Being Out of Sync
When benefits lag behind expectations, the impact often shows up indirectly:
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Longer time to fill open positions
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Increased turnover among experienced staff
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Lower engagement or morale
These issues can affect patient experience, operational efficiency, and leadership bandwidth. In many cases, small adjustments informed by benchmarking can make a meaningful difference without dramatically increasing costs.
Benchmarking Is Not About Spending More
One common misconception is that benchmarking automatically leads to higher expenses. In reality, it often leads to smarter allocation.
We regularly see practices discover that:
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Certain benefits are underutilized and can be restructured
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Contribution strategies can be adjusted without increasing total spend
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Communication around benefits can be improved to increase perceived value
Benchmarking helps practices invest intentionally rather than reactively.
Using Benchmarking as a Planning Tool
Benefits benchmarking works best when it supports broader planning conversations:
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Anticipated growth or hiring over the next one to three years
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Leadership succession or physician onboarding
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Practice culture and retention priorities
When benefits are aligned with these goals, they become a strategic asset rather than an administrative burden.
Final Thought
Benefits quietly shape how employees experience a practice every day. When they align with market expectations, they support stability and growth. When they fall behind, they create friction that leadership often feels but cannot immediately trace back to its source.
At Unity Insurance, we help practices understand how their benefits compare to similar Maryland practices and identify opportunities to strengthen their offerings in a thoughtful, sustainable way.