Authored by: Sarah Khan
Burnout in physicians has been rapidly growing, with critical implications on the health of providers as well as patients. Yet, despite this, the issue is rarely talked about within society. In a report released by Medscape, 49% of physicians reported feeling burnt out, with fields such as emergency medicine experiencing significantly higher rates of burnout, often above 60% [1]. This burnout is often characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and decreased pride in individual accomplishments [2]. These statistics and trends suggest a growing threat to the future of healthcare, especially in terms of the quality of patient care and potential medical errors.
There are various factors which contribute to burn out. When surveyed, physicians often reported that the amount of bureaucratic tasks and long working hours were major factors contributing to their burnout [1]. Studies have found that poor working conditions with growing workloads and organizational issues are associated with higher levels of dissatisfaction and burnout among physicians [3]. These high workloads and growing administrative responsibilities leave many doctors overextended with no time to relax and recuperate. When tasks are repeated for long periods of time, burnout is an inevitable consequence.
Additionally, decreasing autonomy has also been linked to burnout. The current healthcare landscape is heavily micromanaged, which contrasts with the style of medicine many older physicians trained and practiced under [4]. Examples of this micromanagement include enforcing rigid schedules, limiting decision-making authority, and requiring unnecessary documentation. This drastic shift in healthcare dynamics deprives physicians of personal patient contact, often leaving them with a sense of treating only data and numbers. This is especially evident in the use of electronic health records or EHRs. Data shows that for every hour a physician spends interacting with patients, two hours are spent documenting through EHR and other associated paperwork [5]. In conjunction with growing patient loads, documentation can eat away at physician’s time, forcing them to spend hours on notes instead of with patients. Overall, this contributes to exhaustion and other symptoms of burnout.
In addition to impacting the health of physicians, burnout can affect the quality of patient care. In the surgical field, burnout has been found to contribute to between 7% to 10.6% of serious medical errors that occur [6]. This is a significant safety risk and can place patients in unnecessarily dangerous positions, sometimes even resulting in their deaths. In general, burnout doubles medical errors and can lead to lower satisfaction across the board [2]. Often this is the result of depersonalization, a symptom of burnout, which impairs the connection between physicians and their patients.
Burnout also has a significant effect on physicians themselves, with many reporting high levels of depression and increased rates of substance abuse. Burnout has also been found to double the rates of suicidal ideation [2]. This is an alarming statistic – physician suicide rates are already significantly higher than the general population [7]. Overall, these numbers paint a compelling picture of how burnout can cause mental and emotional turmoil for doctors, which is often reflected in the gaps in the healthcare system.
While recognizing the problem is the first step towards a more sustainable healthcare system, it is important to examine potential solutions to the problem. Studies show that a combination of individual and structural changes are required to create healthier work environments [2]. On an institutional level, there is an urgent need to reduce administrative and documenting burdens on physicians. A major contributor to this are EHRs, which are extremely time consuming to complete. Creating new documentation methods which are accurate, but succinct could be effective at lowering stress and burnout levels in physicians by allowing them to have more free time to spend outside of the workplace. On an individual level, there is a need to emphasize the importance of self care and allow for physicians to take mental health breaks without being looked down upon. Hospitals could play a crucial role in facilitating this. This could include encouraging doctors to use all of their vacation days and implementing confidential access to mental health resources. More importantly, these changes must be made in conjunction with a cultural shift, destigmatizing taking breaks from work. Combined, these changes can alter the healthcare landscape, leading to better health outcomes for both patients and providers.
Overall, it is clear that physician burnout has widespread effects, compromising the quality of the healthcare system. Implementing individual and structural changes will be crucial in ensuring that physicians can continue to provide high levels of care.
Works Cited
Physician burnout and depression, in 5 charts. (2024, January 31). https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2024/01/31/physician-burnout
West, C. P., Dyrbye, L. N., & Shanafelt, T. D. (2018, March 15). Physician burnout: Contributors, consequences and solutions - west - 2018 - journal of internal medicine - wiley online library. Wiley Online Library. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joim.12752
Physician burnout | agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2023, November). https://www.ahrq.gov/prevention/clinician/ahrq-works/burnout/index.html
Fred, H. L., & Scheid, M. S. (2018, August 1). Physician burnout: Causes, consequences, and (?) cures. Texas Heart Institute journal. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6183652/
Kelly, Y. (2016, September 6). Half of Physician Time Spent on EHRs and Paperwork. NEJM Journal March. https://www.jwatch.org/fw111995/2016/09/06/half-physician-time-spent-ehrs-and-paperwork
Shin, P., Desai, V., Conte, A. H., & Qiu, C. (2023, June 15). Time out: The impact of physician burnout on Patient Care Quality and safety in Perioperative Medicine. The Permanente Journal. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10266854/
Kalmoe, M. C., Chapman, M. B., Gold, J. A., & Giedinghagen, A. M. (2019, May). Physician suicide: A call to action. Missouri medicine. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6690303/
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