45% of Healthcare Leaders Burnt Out from Work

Forty-five percent of healthcare leaders said that they feel burnt out from work, according to a recent MGMA Stat Poll.

The data, from the Colorado-based Medical Group Management Association, came from a June poll that included nearly 1,800 responses. While many respondents (45 percent) indicated that, yes, they feel burnt out, the majority said they were “somewhat” burnt out (28 percent) or reported, “no,” they do not feel burnt out at their job (28 percent).

Physician burnout has been a major talking point in health IT circles. To this end, reducing the burden that IT puts on doctors is a key priority for ONC (the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT) right now. In fact, the health IT agency hired John Fleming, M.D., deputy assistant secretary for health technology reform at ONC, last year, with one of his core responsibilities being to reduce provider burden.

What’s more, in a recent CMIO roundtable that took place at this year’s HIMSS conference, Michael I. Hodgkins, M.D., vice president and CMIO at the American Medical Association (AMA), reported that an AMA-led study of leading hospital CEOs revealed that a burned-out physician costs hospitals between $500,000 and $750,000 a year, in terms of replacement costs, lost productivity, etc.

While the MGMA poll didn’t cover health IT directly, it touches on a key healthcare challenge these days. In an article accompanying the poll, MGMA Principal Consultant Kenneth T. Hertz outlined three key areas that contribute to burnout in addition to recommendations that could improve the issue. The areas he specifically mentioned were: lack of control; conflict with colleagues or superiors; and working too much.