Work Life Balance is key to preventing Physician Burnout - but exactly HOW do you create balance in the first place?

Here are 2 Key Habits (and 3 Power Tools) to help you create more balance this week - Field Tested and Doctor Approved. 

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Six "Get Home Sooner" Tools are Here
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We have successfully coached hundreds of doctors back from burnout. One of the key components to preventing physician burnout is restoring some balance to your life. You must chisel out some space in your weeks for yourself and the important people in your life for one simple reason ...

When you are stressed at work --- home is where you must be able to recharge

Employed Physician's Guide to Managing Your Boss - the 3 Keys

Back in 2017 we crossed a significant tipping point. For the first time in the history of medicine --  physician practice owners are NOT in the majority. 

Loss of autonomy is a major frustration for many doctors. In fact, being the boss has perhaps become a quaint, old fashioned memory. YIKES.

It is highly likely that even YOU find yourself floating aimlessly in the midst of the spaghetti pile of a vast bureaucracy - smack in the middle of your org chart with several layers of bosses above you. Even if you have made the effort to build your Ideal Practice Description, you are going to need someone else's help or permission at some point.

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Download the FREE "Manage Your Boss Worksheet"
A Step-by-Step Action Plan and List of  
the Exact Questions You Need to Get Started Right Away
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These people often have the power to dictate the specifics of your practice ... unless you figure out a way to have some influence over their decisions. And there's the rub. How do you maintain some influence over "the system" when you are not the boss???

In this article let me show you three keys to managing your boss -- if you are an employed physician. These are the tools you need to take back some control over your practice.

Have you ever asked yourself this question?

"If I am not the boss any more, how do I manage the person who is?"

Code Lavender has been in the news lately as a Burnout Prevention Tool ... that is NOT what it is.

You have heard of Code Blue and Code Red ... well there's a new code in town. Code Lavender.

Code Lavender is a code the hospital staff can call for themselves when they are being overloaded by stress and traumatic events at work.

When Code Lavender is triggered, the staff member gets a Chaplain consult, Reiki treatment, some down time and a lavender ribbon on their arm to tell everyone they are having a rough day. Code Lavender started by Earl Bakken at North Hawaii Community Hospital in Waimea in 2008 and has been reported on most recently in the Cleveland Clinic System.

This week I was interviewed along with Amy Greene, the Cleveland Clinic Director of Spiritual Care, on HuffPostLive on a segment titled:

Code Lavender: Healing One Doctor at a Time. You can watch the interview below.

In the remainder of this blog post (below the video frame) let me show you why Code Lavender is NOT a  burnout prevention tool and the function it actually performs.

The 2014 Breakthrough Process will set you up for your Best Year Yet, in about one hour this weekend 

A year from now … as you look back on 2014 … what do you want the year to feel like? How about a 2014 that is your best year yet? Let’s make it a year of breakthrough success, happiness and satisfaction … what do you say?

Here is a personal strategic planning process planning process that is so powerful I call it the 2014 Breakthrough Process. It is specifically designed to help you breakthrough in those areas where you are feeling stuck – at work or at home.

Print out the worksheet below to get started

Life balance is more than just taking time off or going on vacation.

If it feels like you are drowning at work ... you need way more than a few breaths at the surface to give yourself any kind of meaningful recovery.

Here are three keys to using holidays and vacation to recharge yourself in ways that will make a big difference. These are keys to actually creating work-life balance. Use these to ensure you head back to work rejuvenated and in a better place than when you punched out.

Your Group's Culture is Key to Maintaining Physician Autonomy and Preventing Physician Burnout

Culture ... What Culture?

The basic challenge is this ...

... most physician groups/departments have never created a Conscious Culture that defines who you are and how you support each other.

This is one of the Key Blind Spots of our current Physician Leadership Vacuum.

A consciously created, supportive Physician Culture is hugely important for all doctors now and in the rapidly changing healthcare environment that is staring us all in the face. Yet the entire concept of a cohesive Physician Culture is completely absent in 85% of the healthcare organizations I interact with across the country.

What about your group/organization? 
Does the Culture of your group/department support you in building a healthy practice or actually get in your way?

Skinny Data Beats Big Data Every Time

In this article, let me show you how to let go of the pipe dream of BIG Data and show you how to make immediate improvements in your practice, lower your stress levels and prevent physician burnout by mining the Skinny Data lying all around you right now.

You have probably heard a lot about BIG Data in healthcare and the glowing promises it offers that are always just beyond the horizon. Big data is the snowdrifts of information piling up from the daily entries into millions of Electronic Medical Record programs. Piles and piles of it just waiting for a big budget and a brilliant programmer to mine it for breakthroughs in the delivery of healthcare. You know ... THAT BIG Data.

Big Data is Magical Thinking for the most part

Hot off the Presses.

The results of the Physician Satisfaction Study sponsored by the RAND corporation and the AMA became available this week and all 152 pages are a treasure trove of information on how to lower stress, prevent physician burnout and create more satisfaction in your organization.

In short ... this is the Physician's "Love It/Hate It" list for the Clinical Practice of Medicine here in 2013

Physician Burnout Vs. The Bottom Line: The Epic Battle

The wave of consolidation sweeping healthcare in the US is causing wholesale collapse of private practice in many markets. Physicians are trading in their practices for employee status in rapidly growing provider networks usually based on a local hospital system.

Let me show you how this move sets up an invisible Battle that will determine your quality of life … and how to restore Balance as an employee physician.

The Formula for Physician Engagement 

The Quadruple Aim Blueprint - four steps to system-wide burnout prevention. Download your copy of this Free White Paper here

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Dear Physician Leader, Medical Director, CMO,

QUESTION:
How can you get your doctors actively engaged and participating - without having to beg or threaten - and finally become the trusted leader you’ve always wanted to be?