Physician Burnout - Who will Save Us?

In this article you will learn why Physician Burnout is a Physician Leadership Issue and what to do when you realize no one is coming to rescue you.

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In articles and comments all over the internet, physicians do the same thing - blame, justify and complain about the work stresses we are under.

It is a futile show of frustration despite the fact that our concerns are legitimate.

On average 1 in 3 physicians are suffering from symptomatic burnout on any give office day. New levels of work stress seem to pile on each week. You can feel the longing to be rescued.

It is as if we are locked high in the castle tower, at the mercy of our evil captors - EMR, ICD-10 and Obamacare. Surely the king of everything that is right has dispatched a brave night to free us.

We shake our fists and ask "who is going to do something about this?" We dream of being rescued from these days of drudgery. This is not what we thought our practice would be like back in training.

All of these concerns are true and valid. AND understand one thing ...

Complaining and dreaming of a rescue is Playing the Victim - Pure and Simple

There is no brave knight coming to save you or anyone else

This only distracts you from Saving Yourself

Let me set a framework for addressing burnout effectively - the straightest path to meaningful change in your work day and your organization.

In the end you will see that Burnout is a Physician Leadership issue.

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

Employed Physicians Top Four Gripes

Medscape published an article this week titled, “4 Top Complaints of Employed Doctors” and it was a very interesting read. Turns out the things employed physicians complain about are basically that they are employees!  Go Figure …

Let me lay out these employed physicians gripes for you with a little detail so you will see what I mean. I will finish this article with a solid way to address all of them. These gripes are basically a cry for effective Physician Leadership.

Although the numbers are not exact, these days about half of doctors are employed physicians, either by a hospital, a medical group or a larger healthcare system. That number is rising pretty rapidly as the industry consolidates to grab the bonus pools soon available to groups large enough to qualify as ACO’s.