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Doctors undoubtedly have one of the most demanding jobs. Their role requires intensive medical training, increased hours of work and a very diverse workload ranging from clinical to administrative work. As a result, some doctors experience what we call burnout, described as a physical, spiritual and emotional burnout, as well as a feeling of cynicism, inefficiency or lack of self-esteem. uncompleted at work.
Physician burnout is badociated with more serious consequences as they manage the lives and well-being of human patients. This could result in a deterioration of health and work-life balance as well as the inability to provide high quality care to patients and an increased incidence of medical errors.
While anyone can suffer from burnout, estimates suggest that burnout among physicians is twice as fast as in other industries. The long duration of work, the fear of committing professional misconduct or being sued, as well as the heavy burden of documentation and the constitution of medical records may have contributed to the high prevalence of 39, professional exhaustion of doctors.
According to a study by the American Medical Association, 44% of US doctors reported at least one symptom of burnout in 2017, while a report published in 2018 by the Physicians Foundation indicated that about 78% of surveyed participants admitted that they felt exhausted at least. sometimes. In addition to the growing trend of physician burnout, the suicide rate among physicians is also increasing over the years.
Dr. Edward Ellison, co-chief executive of the Permanent Federation and medical director of the Southern California Permanente Medical Group in Pasadena, wrote in an editorial that "beyond anxiety, depression, depression and depression," he said. insomnia, physical and emotional exhaustion and loss of consciousness. the cognitive attention badociated with physician burnout, about 300 to 400 American doctors commit suicide each year. This number is higher than the general public suicide rate of 40% for men and 130% for women. "
In addition to the undesirable effects of burnout in the doctor and patients, an economic burden is also badociated. However, this concept is still poorly understood.
To better understand this problem, researchers at Stanford University, Mayo Clinic, and the American Medical Association have created a mathematical model to estimate the burnout costs badociated with staff turnover. and the reduction of doctors' work hours. The study was recently published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
According to the model, about $ 4.6 billion – with a range of $ 2.6 to $ 6.3 billion – can be attributed to physician burnout in the United States. These costs are taken into account for physician turnover and reduction of clinical hours.
In addition, at the organizational level, the cost is approximately $ 7,600 (with a range of $ 3,700 to $ 11,000) per physician employed each year. Compared with the previous ones, the cost estimate for this study related to physician burnout is significantly lower. The annual report of the Health Care Task Force for 2018 estimated the costs of burnout at $ 17 billion.
With the help of related research and industry reports, they took into account the replacement costs of a doctor who quits their job, including the costs badociated with publishing positions, costs related to the hiring and training of a new doctor, as well as the losses of a health facility the position remains vacant. However, several other factors were not taken into account due to the difficulty of quantifying, including malpractice lawsuits, loss of reputation, loss of indirect income and poor quality of care.
Some advocates fear that the trend of physician burnout will become stronger in the coming years due to the increasing aging of the population and a possible shortage of doctors by 2030.
The co-author of the study, Joel Goh, also an badistant professor at the National University of Singapore, even stated that "over the next 20 or 30 years, it seems that the demand is expected to increase and the fundamentally, will not be able to catch up. We are starting to feel some of the effects today, "according to Time. With this urgent issue, there could be a greater and problematic economic burden in the future, apart from the reduced quality of patient care.
Fortunately, this could be avoided when health facilities begin to prioritize the well-being of their physicians. There should be efficient workloads, flexible schedules, as well as an effective support system.
At Cleveland Clinic, Icahn School of Medicine and Stanford Medicine, they launched the appointment of Wellness Leaders to help address the burnout problem among their physicians.
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