Physician burnout out is real, costly, and detrimental to doctors and patients alike.
Physician burnout costs the U.S. healthcare system 4.6 billion dollars a year. In 2018, an alarming 56% of physicians reported burnout due to excessive bureaucratic tasks like paperwork, 39% reported long working hours, and 16% reported lack of respect from patients, according to another survey by the American Medical Association (AMA). Similarly, physician shortage is also undeniable. It’s estimated that the United States will face a physician shortage of up to nearly 122,000 by 2032, as noted in a survey by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).
Physicians are constantly asked to do more work with less resources, and eventually, that takes a toll on their well-being. A recent survey by Medscape reported that 15% of physicians feel depressed, 14% reported thoughts of suicide, and between 300 and 400 doctors commit suicide every year. In addition, physician burnout also jeopardizes patient care. Physician burnout translates into negative consequences on patient-level outcomes, patient satisfaction, medical errors, and care quality.
Numerous studies have also shown an association between physician burnout and reduced efficiency of health care systems to deliver high-quality care to patients due to preventable adverse events that cost several billions of dollars to the healthcare system. Perhaps you are a hospital administrator faced with the dilemma of how to best address physician burnout at your organization. To combat these issues, it is critical to redirect and streamline patient care, while improving protocols for care institutions. Replacing in-person visits with real-time video consultation empowers physicians to spend more time seeing patients, improving the quality of care and satisfaction for both, patient and physician.
Recent studies show that an increasing number of health care systems are choosing telemedicine as a way to manage physician burnout. Virtual care permits medical providers to treat millions of Americans through the telephone and online video consultations. Telehealth services mitigate physician burnout through flexible schedule management, and a better work-life balance.
According to the American Hospital Association (AHA), more than 75% of hospitals use telehealth services. More and more private payers are embracing coverage for many telemedicine services. Some employers are also using telehealth to provide virtual health services to their employees.
The future of medicine is here.
The time to add telehealth services to your health care system is right now.
Schedule your demo today with a Hifinite consultant.
REFERENCES
https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/the-economic-cost-of-physician-burnout
https://qz.com/1676207/the-us-is-on-the-verge-of-a-devastating-doctor-shortage/
https://www.aha.org/factsheet/telehealth
Grow, H. M., McPhillips, H. A., & Batra, M. (2019). Understanding physician burnout. Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care, , 100656. doi:10.1016/j.cppeds.2019.100656
Shapiro, D. E., Duquette, C., Abbott, L. M., Babineau, T., Pearl, A., & Haidet, P. (2019). Beyond burnout: A physician wellness hierarchy designed to prioritize interventions at the systems level. The American Journal of Medicine, 132(5), 556-563. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2018.11.028
Vogel, L. (2019). Virtual care can't fix physician shortages underlying access woes. CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association Journal = Journal De l'Association Medicale Canadienne, 191(35), E975-E976. mitigate:10.1503/cmaj.1095813