ACP Physician Well-being and Professional Fulfillment
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2018 Wellness Survey Results
MO ACP Wellness Survey Findings
This past fall, the Missouri Chapter of ACP conducted our first annual burnout/wellness survey. The survey was sent to all practicing physicians enrolled with the chapter, including residents and fellows. Students were not a part of this cohort. We received a total of 62 responses back. We had an almost equal distribution of male and female respondents. The results were as follows:
Thirty percent of the respondents felt their job added a great deal of stress to their lives. While this might not seem like an alarming number, how do we continue to encourage future generations to continue going into Internal Medicine with these numbers? Add to that the 90% of respondents who are feeling the pressure of not being able to document in time and more than 70% of us who are working after hours documenting at home.
The EMR, while being great in some ways, has added to frustration in our lives. We are always accessible! This is worrisome especially when EMR continues to get complicated with changes, upgrades, more requirements etc. There is more stress on checking off boxes than the actual interaction with the human being sitting in front of us. To add to all of this, only 16% felt that their work environment was calm in a given day. So, not only are their frustrations related to our work but the environment is adding to the anxiety. Lack of support staff, lack of effective communication, the constant need to “catch up” and still being pushed for time etc. is sucking the joy out of practicing medicine.
On that note, the Chapter felt most frustrated with the documentation and EMR questions. One of the things we could look at is devising ways, perhaps webinars, group discussions, etc., on how to make the EMR work for us and make us efficient. Even a 10-15% improvement would be a good goal for next year. There are those amongst us who have worked on projects or have a better handle over these issues. Perhaps creating a virtual community could help.
And most importantly, advocating for what is right, for our patients and our future generations cannot be stressed enough. This chapter has a diverse group of well informed, diligent and resourceful physicians at various stages in their career. There is so much to learn and gain from each other. We would love to hear your suggestions and thoughts, specifically related to how we can deliver programing that will help address these issues.
We wish everyone a much better, more fruitful and less burnt out year ahead. And remember, today…YOU ARE ENOUGH…just as you are!
Fariha Shafi, MD, FACP
Co-chair ACP Missouri Wellness Committee
ACP Well-being Champion
This past fall, the Missouri Chapter of ACP conducted our first annual burnout/wellness survey. The survey was sent to all practicing physicians enrolled with the chapter, including residents and fellows. Students were not a part of this cohort. We received a total of 62 responses back. We had an almost equal distribution of male and female respondents. The results were as follows:
- Almost 86% felt that they were satisfied with their current jobs.
- As reassuring as this number is, what was not surprising is that 54% felt that they experienced burnout. This has consistently been the number nationally in the various burnout surveys administered.
- The responses to questions addressing alignment of goals with the clinical leaders and working efficiently with the team members were about 63% favorable. While these numbers do not look bad, in an ideal work environment, one would hope that the alignment and team spirit were better, thus preventing the burnout and frustration.
- Sadly, only 31% felt that they had any decent amount of control over their workload. This loss or lack of control is on the forefront of job dissatisfaction, especially in primary care. At the National ACP level, there has been a lot of focus in helping individuals and organizations gain better control of their work day. Making these issues a “business case” for the organizations was felt to be the best way forward. Giving efficient care and not just filling patient slots was better for doctors and care teams. Allowing for innovative ways in which physicians can control how much they want to work, will lead to overall increased productivity. Job sharing, allowing for extended hours for physicians who want a later start in the work day etc. are some examples.
Thirty percent of the respondents felt their job added a great deal of stress to their lives. While this might not seem like an alarming number, how do we continue to encourage future generations to continue going into Internal Medicine with these numbers? Add to that the 90% of respondents who are feeling the pressure of not being able to document in time and more than 70% of us who are working after hours documenting at home.
The EMR, while being great in some ways, has added to frustration in our lives. We are always accessible! This is worrisome especially when EMR continues to get complicated with changes, upgrades, more requirements etc. There is more stress on checking off boxes than the actual interaction with the human being sitting in front of us. To add to all of this, only 16% felt that their work environment was calm in a given day. So, not only are their frustrations related to our work but the environment is adding to the anxiety. Lack of support staff, lack of effective communication, the constant need to “catch up” and still being pushed for time etc. is sucking the joy out of practicing medicine.
On that note, the Chapter felt most frustrated with the documentation and EMR questions. One of the things we could look at is devising ways, perhaps webinars, group discussions, etc., on how to make the EMR work for us and make us efficient. Even a 10-15% improvement would be a good goal for next year. There are those amongst us who have worked on projects or have a better handle over these issues. Perhaps creating a virtual community could help.
And most importantly, advocating for what is right, for our patients and our future generations cannot be stressed enough. This chapter has a diverse group of well informed, diligent and resourceful physicians at various stages in their career. There is so much to learn and gain from each other. We would love to hear your suggestions and thoughts, specifically related to how we can deliver programing that will help address these issues.
We wish everyone a much better, more fruitful and less burnt out year ahead. And remember, today…YOU ARE ENOUGH…just as you are!
Fariha Shafi, MD, FACP
Co-chair ACP Missouri Wellness Committee
ACP Well-being Champion