How to avoid burnout in a broken health care system

A study found that for every physician in the U.S. health care system, there are 10 administrators or nonclinical staff.¹ That means a large percentage of health care dollars is being spent on administrative staff who do not provide direct patient care but often dictate how physicians must provide it, including seeing more patients in less time and navigating a host of value-based programs and other regulations.

“No wonder physician burnout is so high,” writes Amaryllis Sánchez Wohlever, MD. “What’s remarkable is that it isn’t higher.”

Her advice to other physicians? Return to the basics of your craft. Stay focused on keeping patient care and the sacred doctor-patient relationship front and center. And speak up when administrative rules and regulations result in less effective care. “Enough is enough,” writes Wohlever. It’s time for physicians to “take a stand — for our patients and ourselves.”

1. Kocher R. The downside of health care job growth. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2013/09/the-downside-of-health-care-job-growth. Sept. 23, 2013. Accessed June 27, 2019.

Read the full FPM article: “A New Lexicon for Physicians: A Poem for Physicians Who Care.”