Under normal circumstances, physician burnout has been described as a “public health crisis” resulting in high turnover rates, inefficiency, increased medical errors, and exit from the profession. Some surveys show that nearly half of all physicians experience burnout in some form. While burnout has been attributed to numerous factors, including the demands of electronic health records and a reduction in physician autonomy, it is almost certainly going to increase and be exacerbated as a result of the current pandemic. Physicians in COVID-19 hotspots can be treating an overwhelming amount of critically ill patients and confronting death rates unlike anything they have ever seen. There have been several anecdotal reports on the effect that the COVID-19 crisis is having on physician well-being and it has been significant.
During this podcast, Horty, Springer & Mattern partners Rachel Remaley and Charles Chulack discuss burnout, its contributing (and aggravating) factors, and strategies to improve physician well-being and satisfaction.