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The mental and physical well being of a physician can drastically affect the type of care that a patient receives. While everybody knows that doctors tend to work long hours, according to AMA Insurance’s 2014 Work/Life Profile of Today’s Physician, the average workweek of a doctor in the U.S. can exceed sixty hours. Such an intense work schedule often leads to physician burnout.
Understanding Physician Burnout
The demanding pace and emotional intensity of the healthcare environment can put physicians and other medical personnel at risk of experiencing burnout. A new national survey carried out by Stanford University School of Medicine researchers revealed that more than half of U.S doctors experience burnout.
Physician burnout is a work-induced syndrome that is marked by emotional exhaustion, a failing sense of personal accomplishment and depersonalization. Burnout on doctors also leads to a decrease of satisfaction and joy. In extreme cases, it has resulted in suicide and substance abuse.
While the exact cause of physician burnout can be complex it’s often contributed to: - Excessive workload
- Family life and work conflict
- Administrative burdens
- Patient fluctuation
The prevalence of physician burnout has led to questions on how it affects patient safety and care quality. There is strong evidence that physician burnout compromises patient care. Since burnout leads to demoralization, a doctor suffering from burnout will often have an impaired memory, it's also difficult for them to pay attention which all leads to poor decision making. Medical error is responsible for up to 200,000 hospital deaths each year, according to the Institute of Medicine.
How Physician Scheduling Software Help With Physician Burnout
Medical staff scheduling software can be help improve a doctor’s performance and increase a hospital’s turnover rate. Emergency medicine scheduling software will streamline the shift scheduling process and makes it easy to ensure that each physician is able to request time off.
In addition, scheduling software will allow the administration to provide enough coverage during peak hours and fairly distribute demanding shifts. This will help relieve a fraction of the stress of meeting the patient demand that medical providers are plagued with. The software automates schedule changes, shift preferences and requests for vacation or time off. Medical providers are able to easily access their schedule which helps them to balance family and work life.
Another option that hospitals might want to consider to help address physician burnout is to employ a wellness officer. If hiring a wellness officer isn’t in the budget, then hospitals should at least implement a wellness program. Wellness programs can include activities to provide fun opportunities outside of work, mentoring or buddy opportunities, and educational resources to help healthcare staff understand burnout and its impact.
Scheduling automation is a major asset to the healthcare industry. Physician burnout is real and it’s causing poor performance leading to dwindling patient care quality. Use scheduling automation software to make a change.
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