Burnout rates may be easing from pandemic highs, but doctors are still asking for three primary things: control over their schedules, less time spent on paperwork and other administrative tasks, and more autonomy over their practice.
Physician burnout rate has continued to decline for the fourth consecutive year, which is good news––but the rate of burnout is still over 40%. With physician shortages already impacting patient care––and some physicians are organizing to demand changes in their practices––it’s crucial to explore every possible avenue to ease burnout and improve the physician experience.
Here are some of the factors driving physician burnout, and how medical facilities and physicians are addressing them:
1. Lessening the Administrative Burden
The administrative burden of medicine tops the list of factors that drive physician burnout, according to Medscape’s Physician Burnout & Depression Report. Keeping up with charting and paperwork, navigating arduous insurance negotiations, and other administrative tasks take physicians away from the reason they got into medicine: patient care.
Some facilities are attempting to address this issue by tackling common systemic issues that increase administrative burden, like optimizing their EHR systems. When one medical facility was facing major EHR fatigue among their physicians and providers, they launched an initiative to reduce the time that physicians spent on EHR management. By transitioning the majority of nonclinical messages to staff instead of physicians, their primary physicians were able to reduce their total EHR time by 34 minutes a day. Other facilities have turned to automation as one way of addressing the time that physicians spend charting after hours.
But there are other options for physicians on the verge of burnout: locum tenens can help ease the administrative burden and allow physicians to spend more time focused on patient care.
Locums assignments aren’t without their administrative work: physicians still have to learn EHR systems and spend time charting. But without the additional administrative tasks that come with full-time employment––like departmental meetings and insurance negotiations––most physicians find that locums allows them to spend more time with patients instead of paperwork.
“As a locums physician, I feel very free of the system,” says locums neurologist Erica Tauck. “I don’t have to worry about fixing administrative problems or attending high-level meetings, because I’m solely there to see patients. If there’s a problem in the system, I hope it’s a little bit better when I get back next time. But in the meantime, I get to just work around it to take care of my patients.”
2. Scheduling Flexibility
It’s no secret that long hours and the demands of being on-call is one of the leading factors of burnout. In Medscape’s Physician Burnout & Depression Report, working too many hours was the #2 reason physicians cited for burnout, behind administrative burdens.
In many cases, facilities have treated burnout as an individual problem requiring individual solutions: taking time off, seeking mental health support, etc. But most physicians point to the problem of burnout as a systemic one: especially when it comes to rigid work schedules that don’t leave any flexibility for physicians’ personal life or mental health.
In Medscape’s report, physicians ranked making work schedules more manageable as the second most important step that facilities could take to address burnout, with increased compensation ranking first.
But many physicians aren’t waiting for their facilities to respond. Instead, they are taking control of their own schedules by transitioning to locum tenens full-time. This is especially true of doctors nearing retirement, but physicians at multiple stages of their career have chosen to pursue locums full-time as a way to break free of the demanding full-time schedule.
With locum tenens, you can set your own schedule––whether that means working two weeks on, two weeks off, or working full-time for several months and then taking time off, or working occasional weekends. Because there are so many coverage gaps in our healthcare system, there can be a variety of assignments and schedules to choose from, and many physicians can make the transition without sacrificing their income or lifestyle.
“[Going from full-time employment to locum tenens] really improved my work-life balance, without having an impact on my bank account,” says locums cardiologist Dr. Marc Atzenhoefer. “I went from working five days a week on call, bringing charts home, to a locum assignment where there was minimal call. Once I’m done, I’m done.”
3. Increased Autonomy
Lack of respect and autonomy accounted for the third, fourth, and fifth highest factors driving burnout in Medscape’s Physician Burnout & Depression Report.
In a medical industry that is increasingly seeing shifts in patient care models driven by private equity, more and more physicians are feeling frustrated about their lack of autonomy when it comes to their practices, and knowing how to care for their patients.
When physicians don’t have any autonomy over their work, they don’t feel respected––and in turn, they don’t feel valued. There are many ways that facilities can address this: giving physicians input in designing schedule templates, offering flexibility in weekly work hours, allowing telehealth options where appropriate, and more. Having some level of choice over their practice can make a huge difference in physicians feeling respected, supported, and valued.
For physicians who want to have complete autonomy over their practice, locum tenens is also a good option. With locums, you can build your practice around your priorities.
“In effect, locums is practicing medicine without 98% of the other stuff that most doctors are accustomed to having to deal with,” says Dr. Peter Zonakis.
“As a locums, I’m literally only asked to do what I was trained to do back in medical school and residency. When I’m off, I’m really off. I can shut my phone off at night. I can enjoy a glass of wine. I can walk my dogs without any interruption. When I’m off, I can be the most relaxed guy in the world. And when I’m working, I turn it back on. Even though I see numerous patients with numerous problems, I finish a day’s work not upset, and not mentally exhausted. I really feel that locums has made me a better person. That’s been one of the unexpected benefits of working the locums lifestyle: I look forward to going to work every day.”
