Positive Psychology is not a Physician Wellness Strategy - it is a single useful tool, just like Lipstick on a Pig

We know physician burnout is not because physicians lack resilience.

You are way more resilient than the average bear. Here's how we know ...

You survived med school and residency!
You are Still Here !

I use the word "survive" in that sentence very deliberately. If you look at the experience of Medical School and Residency from a pure energy perspective - think "The Force" in the Star Wars movies - your medical education was an exercise in SURVIVAL at that level.

Sure you learned a whole new vocabulary, a problem focused diagnostic skill set and how to recognize and treat most of the diseases in your specialty ... but all of that was predicated on your survival.

Even in a Year Like This ... Physician Wellness Leaders are More Important than Ever ... here's why ...

We are nowhere near the end of the human suffering and massive economic impact of the pandemic of 2020.

The Old Normal is gone. It is all hands on deck - as you treat COVID-19 patients directly or are working to ramp your practice back up again. 

The New Normal has yet to emerge from the whirlwind.

[Next Workshop Starts February 1st, 2021]
 => Click Here for Full Details <=

As the layers of COVID-19 chaos and disruption march through your life and practice, you have a choice on where you focus your attention.

You could play defense -- cover your eyes, nose, ears and mouth and hang on - white knuckle your way to the light at the end of the tunnel or even pray for a rescue.

If that's what you choose, inevitably someone else will draw up your new job description in the wake of the pandemic and tell you what to do - once again. 

Or

WE INVITE YOU to our next Practice Reset Online Workshop. Whether you want to tweak, reset or even escape your current practice, the chaos of 2020 and COVID-19 means there has never been a better time to get started than right now.

And get ready to run like never before 

If you haven't heard yet, your organization just had its worst three months in history -- yet another COVID-19 driven contribution to physician burnout.

i) If you are a practice owner, this reality has been keeping you up at night for weeks.

ii) If you are an employee physician and you don't already know about the smoking crater that is your organization's financial statement, your leaders are hiding the financials from you in a fine example of #badleadership.

iii) And if your organization somehow managed to avoid a massive loss in the last 90 days - either you are a full risk/capitated provider (Kaiser Permanente) or you got very, very lucky.

For healthcare delivery organizations relying on fee-for-service payment contracts, things have never been this bad.

Their profit margin just went from single digit positive to a giant sucking sound. Even the Mayo Clinic is projecting a 3 BILLION dollar loss in 2020.

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Now we have some potential GOOD NEWS !

Now we are seeing a little flicker of light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel. 

As we begin to reopen society, data released this week shows physician visit volumes have rebounded slightly from the bottom out in the month of April.

The burning question is will the recovery happen quickly enough to avoid an extinction event in smaller private practices?

Fee for service private practice has been hammered by declines of visit volumes of 50 - 70%. No business can withstand an assault on its top line income of this magnitude for any significant period of time.

New research shows outpatient visits appear to have bottomed out in early April and are on the rebound. The curve is upward with volumes still 30-40% below baseline volumes from January and February of this year.

Given the US healthcare system's addiction to fee for service payments, the recovery in visit volumes and income must come quickly.

If the curve does not quickly assume a V or U shape, smaller physician owned groups who cannot survived a prolonged income drop will go out of business en masse before the end of the year. Unfortunately that does not look like a U or V to me. 

Here is the latest data on US Visit volumes from a unique source that tells the whole story.

As healthcare workers, we learn, "the patient comes first" as our Prime Directive.

Tragically, this reflex impulse to dive in and help without thinking, can get us killed - especially here in the Covid19 Pandemic.

We tend to dive in where the need is the greatest, never questioning our “the patient comes first” programming.

There is a huge and necessary barrier between COVID-19 patients and their caregivers - Personal Protective Equipment - PPE

The mask, face shield, gown and gloves are completely necessary to protect the caregiver and the other patients on the ward AND they block a powerful component of a therapeutic relationship ... seeing the faces of your care team.

No smiles, frowns, looks of empathy or concern except what words and the corners of the eyes can convey ... and that is if the light is not reflecting off your visor at the time.

What can be done to humanize this life saving connection between caregiver and patient?

COVID-19 is a Worthy Adversary - We count 13 Layers of Impact that will spool out over time.

VIDEO TRAINING:

It is easy to focus on the impact of the acute disease and the early economic effects, but just wait, there is more.

Those are just two of the 13 separate layers of negative impact from this crisis. The long tail of the pandemic's impact will last several years at a minimum and only if there is no wave two - please!

This mornings headlines in my InBox were dominated by a pair of suicides - one ER Doctor and one newly graduated EMT

Dr. Lorna M. Breen, the medical director of the emergency department at NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital.

FDNY EMT John Mondello, 23, graduated from the EMS academy in early February and worked with the Tactical Response Group in the Bronx

This is a heartbreaking loss. Tragic to an extreme.

It is one thing to die doing what you love ...

It is another to die from your own hand, because the pain of doing what you love is too much to bear.

A Lightworker's burden ... may they both rest in peace.

This highlights the need raise our "I've got your back" caring for team mates to a whole new level. Time to step up.

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We know three things for sure: