Hailey Mensik Jan. 15, 2020
Dive Brief:
·
Physicians ages 40 to 54, or those belonging to Generation X,
experience burnout at a higher rate than their older and younger coworkers,
according to a new report from
Medscape. Nearly 48% of Gen X physicians reported burnout, compared with 38% of
millennials and 39% of baby boomers.
·
Among all generations, bureaucratic tasks including charts and
paperwork were cited most frequently as a factor for professional dissatisfaction
and burnout, followed by long hours. While boomers largely cited the increasing
computerization of practice, or the EHR, millennials
ranked EHRs near the bottom of their list.
·
Half of all physicians surveyed said they would take a salary
reduction of up to $20,000 annually for reduced hours and more work-life
balance, including millennials who are among the lowest earners.
Dive Insight:
Long hours, overnight shifts and
stressful work environments have long made healthcare a demanding profession –
often resulting in burnout among physicians, increased staff turnover and
decreased productivity.
Leslie Kane, senior director of
Medscape Business of Medicine, said healthcare organizations are more aware of
burnout and its implications than in the past. Some hospitals are implementing
wellness programs, Kane said, although "individual stress reduction won't
change the big systemic problem."
Medscape's annual report
published Wednesday on National Physician Burnout,
Depression and Suicide found that while the overall rate of
burnout among healthcare professionals dropped slightly, from 46% in 2015 to
42% in 2020, a generational divide is now apparent. This was the first year the
online survey, which observed more than 15,000 physicians across 29
specialties, evaluated physicians' responses by generation.
Gen X healthcare workers, or
those born between roughly 1965 and 1985, reported higher levels of burnout or
job-related stress that contributed to feelings of exhaustion, cynicism and
detachment from professional satisfaction and responsibilities.
These findings diverge from
a 2019 study from InCrowd,
a market research vendor for life sciences companies, where survey respondents
in their 70s had the lowest rate of burnout at 22%, compared with 70% of
physicians in their 30s.
While the primary causes of
burnout: long hours, overwhelming workload and lack of support, remain
unchanged over the years, the introduction of new technology was named as a top
stressor by boomers. They cited the increasing computerization of
practice through EHRs as a
top three factor for burnout, while Gen Xers and millennials ranked it far
lower on their list of concerns.
Another generational difference
was found in coping mechanisms. While millennials reported sleeping (56%) and
talking with close family or friends (53%), Gen X and boomer physicians
reported isolating themselves from others (45% and 44%), and exercising (46%
and 45%).
Consistent with previous years,
female physicians reported burnout at higher rates than men, at 48% compared
with 37%.
Burnout can lead to depression,
which nearly one in five physicians reported experiencing. Physicians who
reported depression said it can impact their work performance, leading them to
be easily exasperated with patients (40%) and sometimes result in errors they
otherwise would not make (16%).
Beyond affecting the quality of
patient care, burnout carries other financial implications for healthcare
organizations. A study published in
the Annals of Internal Medicine last May reported that physician burnout costs
the healthcare industry between $2.6 billion and $6.3 billion each year, with
costs stemming from increased turnover and reduced productivity, among other
factors.
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