Central PA Medicine - Summer 2017 - 6

daup h i n cm s .org

President's Message

PHYSICIAN
BURNOUT
A Silent Epidemic

recent Medscape Physician
Lifestyle report showed a 46%
(30-65% across specialties) burnout rate among all physicians with
the highest rates incurred by physicians at the
front line of care, such as emergency medicine
and primary care. Add to that almost 400
suicides a year among physicians and you
get a stark picture.

Mukul Parikh, MD, DABA
President, DCMS

The numbers are equally dismal among
other healthcare workers (like nurses and other
clinicians). So, we are not just talking about
the health of the providers but its direct effect
on all the recipients (entire population) of
healthcare as they are directly linked. Burnout
is commonly defined as loss of enthusiasm for
work, feelings of cynicism, and a low sense
of personal accomplishment. The difference
between stress and burnout is the ability to
recover/recharge your batteries in the time
off between call nights and days in the office.
In the same report, too many bureaucratic
tasks, spending too many hours at work,
feeling like just a cog in a wheel, increased
computerization of practice were listed as the
top four causes of the burnout. These are all
system issues that need to be addressed as such.
Today's medical practice environment is
destroying the altruism and commitment of
our physicians. Compared with the general
U.S. population, physicians worked a median
of 10 hours more per week, displayed higher

6 Summer 2017 Central PA Medicine

rates of emotional exhaustion and reported
lower satisfaction with work-life balance,
another study found. "Physician Burnout
is a Public Health Crisis" was the message
from the healthcare CEO forum.
Electronic health record (EHR) systems
are among these systemic issues contributing
to burnout. Almost half of the physician
work day is spent on EHR data entry and
other administrative desk work, according
to a recent time-motion study (https://wire.
ama-assn.org/life-career/clicks-and-keyboardsstealing-face-time-patients). Only 27 percent
of a physician's time is spent on direct clinical
care, the study points out.
What can be done about this creeping crisis
in healthcare? Choosing work-life balance
and healthy boundaries between work and
non-work related activities, focusing on work
activities that provide the most meaning,
leadership training, self-awareness and
mindfulness training, etc., are some of the
things that can be partially achieved through
individual efforts, but a large portion of
it can only be done by organizations as a
system-wide effort. The Pennsylvania Medical
Society (PAMED) runs many programs in
helping with this cause. Success in preventing
and treating physician (healthcare worker)
burnout would make everyone a winner
including the physician, their patients,
their family, their staff/organization and
even the payor.

http://www.dauphincms.org https://wire.www.ama-assn.org/life-career/clicks-and-keyboards

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Central PA Medicine - Summer 2017