By Kayla Green, Vizient
If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, then what does it take to make them stay?
With 48.2% of U.S. physicians reporting at least one symptom of burnout in 2023, it's becoming increasingly vital that health systems find ways to improve the engagement and wellbeing of their physicians — for the sake of both them and their patients.
"Physicians are seeing more patients per day, are tasked with more administrative tasks that take time away from their patients and have a lack of autonomy they've not traditionally experienced in years past as more organizations transition to an employed physician model," said Elizabeth Mack, Vizient principal and pediatric critical care physician. And because of this, we're seeing physicians leaving healthcare in droves."
The American Medical Association estimates that burnout costs the U.S. healthcare system $4.6 billion per year — primarily due to physician turnover and work-hour reductions — and that for every physician who leaves due to burnout, the cost to their organization is upwards of $1 million or more, depending on their specialty.
"Having to rehire a physician and find the right fit can be incredibly challenging. One bad egg can cause a lot of damage and drive out your good eggs — and we're often late to recognize or act on that," Mack said. "So, hiring for fit and retaining physicians through strategies that give them a voice and set them up for success is far and away the best course of action for them, patients and the system."
Physician burnout is associated with negative clinical outcomes, lower levels of empathy and costly medication and medical errors. That's why it's important to devote time and energy to caring for physicians and find ways to improve their overall engagement and wellbeing through meaningful cultural change.
"Intervention is a very low financial investment and high yield opportunity," said Katerie Chapman, Vizient managing principal. "It does not take a lot of money or effort to engage physicians and give them voice into your strategic and operational direction, and the return on investment is invaluable — not only because it's the right thing to do, but because it decreases attrition, inefficiencies, low productivity and medical errors — all of which show up in a health system's bottom line."
A prescription to get better
Figuring out where and how to start improving a health system's culture and physician wellbeing can be challenging. But using a culture and engagement tool like Vizient's SCORE survey can help highlight opportunities to improve. The survey measures and provides insights on psychological safety, wellbeing and engagement that not only enables a strong understanding of the workforce but also the interventions health systems can implement to reliably drive meaningful cultural improvement.
"We have used SCORE to survey more than 15% of the U.S. healthcare workforce, which makes the survey the largest benchmark on burnout and resilience in the country," Chapman said. "We've found that for every 10-point increase in the leadership domain of the SCORE survey, the odds of burnout in that team are reduced by 28%."
But once SCORE delivers the data and insights — then what? Here are strategies health systems can implement to empower physicians, decrease burnout and improve culture and morale.
- Give physicians a voice: Provide space for physicians to voice concerns and ideas to their leaders, and then close the loop by following up on those concerns — whether by solving the issue or escalating for further review and action.
- Include physicians in strategic plans: Embedding physicians' voices and insights into strategic and operational plans can help ensure systems and processes are safer and more efficient.
- Be mindful of scope of work: Ensure leaders understand the scope of work their physicians are responsible for and where they can help reduce their administrative burden. This helps keep physicians engaged so patients receive the best quality care.
- Provide leadership training: When asking physicians to take on more leadership roles, ensure they also receive access to leader training, as opposed to throwing them into the fire.
- Build community: Create networking and community-building opportunities such as awards receptions or dinners and mentorship programs.
- Give purposeful recognition: Recognize physicians in meaningful ways year-round — not just on National Doctors' Day. Provide recognition in engaging and purposeful ways by finding out what they would find most impactful; for some this may be a donation to a local organization, for others this may be additional time off.
- Provide resources following a tragic event: Burnout can be a result of a lack of support following a tragic event like the loss of a patient, so building in support and resources to help physicians work through the physical, mental and emotional trauma post-event is crucial. Such resources may include physician peer support programs, structured debriefing and accessible and flexible employee assistance programs.
- Consider opportunities where AI could help: AI is a tool that can enable workflows and reduce some of the burden placed on physicians; however, AI tools need to be carefully vetted by clinicians and patients.
Implementing these strategies and taking appropriate steps to care for physicians can lead to greater job satisfaction, higher morale and engagement, improved patient safety and stronger operating margins for the health system.
And that's just what the doctor ordered.