Addressing Physician Burnout: The Way Forward

• Published in: JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association Vol. 317; no. 9; pp. 901 - 902
• Main Authors: Shanafelt, Tait D, Dyrbye, Lotte N, West, Colin P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Medical Association 07-03-2017
• Subjects: Burnout; Burnout, Professional - prevention & control; Certification; Delivery of Health Care - trends; Documentation; Humans; Medical research; Patient Care; Physicians; Physicians - psychology; Quality of care; Quality of Health Care; United States; United States > US
• ISSN: 0098-7484; 1538-3598
• DOI: 10.1001/jama.2017.0076

The US health care delivery system and the field of medicine have experienced tremendous change over the last decade. At the system level, narrowing of insurance networks, employed physicians, and financial pressures have resulted in greater expectations regarding productivity, increased workload, and reduced physician autonomy. Physicians also have to navigate a rapidly expanding medical knowledge base, more onerous maintenance of certification requirements, increased clerical burden associated with the introduction of electronic health records and patient portals, new regulatory requirements (meaningful use, e-prescribing, medication reconciliation), and an unprecedented level of scrutiny (quality metrics, patient satisfaction scores, measures of cost). Here, Shanafelt et al discuss ways to resolve physician burnout.