The Surgeon General is concerned about physician burnout and warns that it has serious repercussions, according to an interview reported on MedPage Today.
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, MBA said that the field of medicine is a profession that relies on emotional well-being, and is seriously lacking in this profession. In an exclusive interview, Dr Murthy said that the suicide and burnout rate among medical professionals is extremely high, and this directly impacts the healthcare industry. This burnout isn’t discriminating in the medical subfields; it’s happening in emergency medicine, family medicine, allergy immunology, dermatology, and OB/GYN to name a few.
As a result of this high burnout rate, there are less physicians, and right now, what the country needs is more physicians. Patients are having difficulties getting appointments and often have to schedule months in advance.
Working long hours and being short-staffed are two of the biggest factors that lead to physician burnout. A burned out doctor is not a happy doctor, and when doctors aren’t happy, they can’t provide the proper treatment for those they are supposed to be healing. Feeling rushed when seeing patients, and not being able to spend the time desired with each and every patient just adds to the physician’s frustration. Being overworked can also lead to less time to keep up with current medical research, recommendations, and breakthroughs that are happening in the industry.
Unfortunately, there are far too many patients and not enough physicians to heal them. This means that doctors are expected to – and need to – work longer hours to provide the treatments that patients’ need. However, if patients are being treated by doctors who are overworked, overtired and burned out, are they really benefitting? Of course they aren’t.
Keys to Curtailing Physician Burnout
The key to ending physician burnout is prevention. Hospitals and medical practices need to increase their efforts to reduce the amount of hours that their physicians work, and the unnecessary responsibilities that are placed on their shoulders.
How can a hospitals and medical practices prevent burnout?
One of the easiest ways is by utilizing physician scheduling software. Shift scheduling software allows scheduling managers to have better control over the schedules that they create. They can easily see which physicians are working when, who has requested time off, and who is working weekend and holiday shifts.
This type of software also allows physicians to easily request time off and swap shifts. The result? Physicians’ who are less overworked, less stressed out, less tired and who have a better quality of life. When doctors are happier, both in and out of work, they are able to provide better treatment.
Emergency medicine scheduling is an important tool to prevent and combat the current burnout situation that so many physicians are facing. By implementing this type of software, this field can grow, and patients can receive better care. It really is a win-win situation for all involved; physicians, patients and the managers who create physician schedules.
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