Physician Burnout Costs the U.S. Billions of Dollars Each Year

Burnout, characterized by emotional exhaustion as well as feeling cynical, ineffective or unaccomplished at work, is bad for both employees and employers. For doctors and hospitals, though, the ramifications can be especially dire. Doctors in the U.S. experience symptoms of burnout at almost twice the rate of other workers, often citing as contributors the long hours, a fear of being sued, and having to deal with growing bureaucracy, like filling out clunky and time-consuming electronic medical records. Burned-out doctors tend to make more medical errors, and their patients have worse outcomes and are less satisfied. Doctors also have higher rates of suicide than the general population, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The economic impacts of burnout are also significant, costing the U.S. some $4.6 billion every year, according to a new study published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. To calculate the cost, a team of researchers looked at several key measures related to physician burnout, including turnover. Using recent research and industry reports, they weighed the costs of replacing a doctor who leaves their job. “Marketing costs to advertise the position, costs of hiring, costs associated with training and starting out a physician—all of these really add up pretty quickly,” says study co-author Joel Goh, an assistant professor at the National University of Singapore and a visiting scholar at Harvard Business Scho...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized burnout embargoed study health care system medical practice medicine Source Type: news