About one in four physicians surveyed plan to leave medicine in the next two years.
By Jenna Hughes
Physician burnout is at an all-time high across the nation. The U.S. physician workforce has for many years been in short supply, and the stressors of the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the issue as the number of physicians leaving their career increases. Across the medical industry, organizations scramble to retain employees and fill open healthcare positions.
The Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) conducted a survey to identify causes of stress that physicians experience in the workplace. The goal of the survey was to assess burnout and find ways to improve physician well-being in the state.
Massachusetts physicians are feeling the effects of burnout
Stressors in the workplace physicians experience include increased healthcare documentation requirements, lack of support staff for non-medical tasks, turnover of clinical staff, increased visit lengths/elements, and prior authorization. These workplace stressors were not always an aspect of employment in healthcare, and have exponentially increased with the advent of technology in medicine, according to the MMS Physician Well-Being Report. These additional responsibilities overwhelm healthcare employees, and “overall, 55% of respondents experience symptoms that reached the threshold for burnout,” the report said.
Burnout leads to concern for the future
Physicians are becoming so overwhelmed, they have started searching for new jobs, or have considered leaving the healthcare industry entirely. In fact, “50% of physicians have already reduced their clinical effort or are ‘definitely’ or ‘likely’ to reduce their clinical hours before June of 2023. About one in four plan to leave medicine in the next two years,” according to the report.
The results are consistent with the national physician burnout crisis throughout the healthcare industry.
Also observed is a need to address the concerns of specific demographic groups in healthcare. Trends were observed in certain groups that responded differently to specific survey categories. For example, more attention is needed with respect to occupational well-being of particular groups, including women physicians, physicians of color, underrepresented physicians, and younger physicians, according to MMS.
Solutions
The survey data exemplifies that there are many areas in which healthcare organizations can make workplace improvements that contribute to physicians’ well-being. The MMS recommends that “stakeholders aim to reduce workplace stressors, address staffing issues in healthcare, support the viability of physician practices, confront excessive administrative burdens, and support the well-being of physicians,” to address the ongoing burnout crisis.
Some recommendations to actively address the issue of burnout include partnering with education programs to encourage new staff to enter the medical profession. There has also been a push to improve workplace support systems, access to mental health resources, and overall clinician office culture.
Stakeholders have recognized the urgency of the physician burnout crisis through system stressors brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. They have made many efforts and great strides but “there is much work to be done,” and according to MMS, there is increasingly a need to address “the professional well-being of and recruitment and retention of physicians from underrepresented populations.”