Physician Burnout - don't let ICD-10 tip you over the edge

There are plenty of signs that a significant number of physicians are walking on the edge of a cliff at work. If you look at this year's Medscape Physicians Lifestyle Survey, 46% of those 19,000 doctors are already suffering from burnout symptoms. Even more are on the verge.

Will ICD-10 be the tipping point in your practice?

Experts tell me that ICD-10 could mean an hour or more extra work in your day starting October 1st. I am very suspicious you don't have that kind of time just lying around in your practice.

In this post I will show you why I think ICD-10 may be the tipping point for many physicians - and what you can do now to avoid that fate.

A tragic cluster of physician suicides + a medical society with an extraordinary CEO = a community based and funded physician wellness program that is attracting national attention

What can you do when multiple physician suicides strike your local medical community?

If you are Candace Barr, CEO of the Lane County (Oregon) Medical Society, you build and fund a local Physician Wellness and Crisis Intervention Program. I consider this to be a Best Practice for a community organized and funded physician wellness program. Please read on to learn more.

Physician Burnout and "Good Stress"

At every live training, I ask the group, "How would you describe the difference between stress and physician burnout?" Someone always musters a really hopeful look and chimes in with ...

"Well, stress can be good sometimes, right?"

The short answer is, "Yes".

Its what they are hoping I will say - as if those three letters will make everything better. As if that answer will make burnout go away, so we don't have to talk about it today. Talking about it would make it impossible to ignore. That is uncomfortable when you finally realize you are walking the cliff edge (see below).

That "Yes" begs another question:

If there is such a thing as "good stress", then what goes wrong when stress gets tipped over into physician burnout?

Let's examine the answer to that question in today's blog post.

• Let me show you a graph that shows the bell shaped curve mapping the relationship between stress and performance
• I will also show you the cliff edge most doctors are walking that explains the high prevalence of physician burnout
• And why you always have to be on the lookout for your last straw

Stress and Performance

Physician Burnout - 7 Ways Your Physician Wellness Committee will Fail

So very few organizations make an effort to address physician burnout proactively … it is an industry wide blind spot. We are all so busy putting out the daily fires of patient care and ceaseless organizational change that doing something for the people in the system never makes it onto your punch list. 

If you do not address workplace stress and physician burnout proactively you are doomed ...

... to receive lower patient satisfaction and quality scores
- higher error rates and malpractice risk
- be forced to deal with disruptive physician behavior
- and higher than normal physician and staff turnover

What if you have a Physician Wellness Committee?

You are not out of the woods by any means. Your organization is one of the 10% who are making an attempt to address physician burnout proactively. You are one of the lucky ones. 

And your Physician Wellness Committee will fail if you don't understand these 7 critical errors I see organizations make over and over again. 

Do not fall into these traps!

Resident Wellness and Resilience Podcast

What are the key components of an effective burnout prevention program for Residency and Fellowship trainees?

Amy Vinson M.D., F.A.A.P from the Boston Children's Pediatric Anesthesia program and I sat down today and recorded this powerful conversation about the stresses of becoming a doctor. This is the master list of causes of burnout we must mitigate against in residency.

The message of the Quadruple Aim is spreading. If you want to take better care of your residents and give them the skills to avoid burnout in the future, this conversation is a superb place to start.

A Must Listen if you are involved in Resident Wellness and Resilience Program design.

(a full list of the topics we covered is below the audio frame) 

Dike Drummond MD, CEO TheHappyMD.com
Amy Vinson M.D., F.A.A.P – Boston Children’s Pediatric Anesthesia Fellowship

Building an effective Resident Wellness and Resilience Program Podcast

Topics Covered:

A Gratitude Journal is a powerful weapon in the fight against Physician Burnout

A large body of research shows a weekly Gratitude Journal is a simple way to help anyone - even physicians - be healthier and happier. It is an antidote to our constant focus on disease, problems and the frustrations of modern medical practice.

In this article I will share the research evidence for the effectiveness of gratitude, including a gratitude bibliography, and show you five keys to a maximally effective Gratitude Journal. Hint: there is a dose response curve. If you over do it, even gratitude loses effectiveness.

Perhaps the biggest danger of never counting your blessings I have noticed is this ... 

Without a regular practice of gratitude, you are at high risk for falling into "Eeyore Mode".

From all of us here at The Happy MD, thank you for a 2014 that was beyond all expectations

All of us here at The Happy MD have had a year of milestones, none of which would be possible without you.

Here is short Holiday Thank You Card and tour of Seattle's world-famous Pike Place Market. You will even see the flying fish!

Let me take this opportunity to thank some very special people individually

Work Life Balance is a key to preventing physician burnout.

And work life balance depends on your ability to say a simple, two letter word. That word is "No".

In my first several calls with a new physician coaching client, we work to deconstruct their current state of overload. Often I will ask, "How did things get so out of balance? Think back to when you took on all these commitments. Did you actually say "Yes" to them all?"

The Medical Marriage - how to create and maintain a passionate relationship when you are a practicing physician

This week I lead a workshop for medical couples and a very interesting thing happened.

Two long time couples got into arguments in the training

After some detailed questions it became clear that literally the only thing holding their relationships together now is the money. Each physician spouse was literally begging to be a priority in their doctor's life in front of the whole room.

All they wanted was some of their time and attention. In each case the physician's time, energy and awareness was almost completely occupied by their career - and had been so for decades. 

The spouse wasn't even playing second fiddle here ... they were a member of the audience at best. Not good.