Physician burnout is probably a misnomer and should be referred to as physician moral injury, which is a pervasive issue affecting healthcare professionals worldwide. AMA physician burnout refers to the phenomenon of doctors experiencing symptoms such as emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced sense of personal accomplishment.
Surveys have shown MD burnout of 38% in 2020 which increased to 61% in 2021 caused many physicians to leave practice or cut back on hours. The Covid pandemic certainly contributed to the peak of this phenomenon. some of the fundamental sources of burnout for physicians existed before the pandemic, and they persist after.
However, it slowly went down to 48% in 2023. This is still a staggering number, as it represents close to half the physicians.
One is the amount of stress that physicians report because of their job, and the other is feeling valued. And what we find is about half of physicians feel stressed because of their job, but it’s not what some people might think. It’s not because of the hard work of taking care of sick patients. It is hard work, but that’s what physicians signed up for. That’s what we went through all the training for. That’s actually what gives us meaning and purpose.
But the stress comes from spending our time doing the wrong work. From things that get in the way of taking the very best care we can of patients. So one of the top reasons that physicians report stress is that there’s not enough support staff. So physicians end up, then, doing work that other team members could do if there were more support staff, and that means we can’t offer the same level of care to our patients or the same care to as many patients as we would if there was adequate staffing. So that’s one of the big sources of stress.
And, the other is that there are just too many administrative tasks to be done, like prior authorization, and additional administrative tasks that contribute to stress.
As per the latest AMA survey currently, only about half of our physicians said they feel valued, although that’s higher than it had been in the previous years.
Causes of Physician Burnout:
- Excessive Workload: Long hours, heavy patient loads, and administrative tasks.
- Lack of Autonomy: Decreased control over practice, decisions, and workload. Increased demands from hospital administrators.
- Electronic Health Records (EHRs): Time-consuming data entry, decreased patient interaction.
- Regulatory Burden: Compliance with regulations, insurance, and billing requirements.
- Lack of Support: Inadequate staffing and resources.
- Patient Expectations: Unreasonable demands, lack of empathy, and increasing complexity of disease.
- Financial Pressures: Decreasing reimbursement, increasing malpractice costs.
- Lack of Work-Life Balance: Blurred boundaries between personal and professional life.
- On-call burden.
Potential Solutions:
- Wellness Programs: Mindfulness, self-care, and mental health resources. Yoga, meditation
- Efficient Workflows: Streamline clinical processes, reduce administrative tasks.
- EHR Optimization: Improve user experience, reduce data entry burden. Reduce redundancies
- Flexible Scheduling: Part-time, telemedicine, or flexible hours options.
- Team-Based Care: Collaborative practice models, shared responsibilities.
- Leadership Support: Regular check-ins, open communication, and resources. Reducing financial pressure by hospital administrators.
- Burnout Prevention Training: Education on recognizing, managing, and preventing burnout.
- Policy Changes: Advocate for regulatory, legislative, and organizational changes.
- Peer Support Groups: Confidential forums for sharing experiences and advice.
- Recognition and Rewards: Acknowledge and reward physicians’ hard work and dedication.
Implementing these solutions requires a multifaceted approach, involving individual physicians, healthcare organizations, and policymakers. By addressing the root causes of burnout, we can promote a healthier, more sustainable medical profession.
References:
- https://letdoctorsbedoctors.wordpress.com/2024/12/14/the-decline-of-the-doctor-from-healers-to-providers/
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10773242/
(Sunil Kaza, MD, FACC is a Cardiologist from Nashville, TN and IS currently serving as the Chair, AAPI BOT 2024-25)