Sections
Log in
Top News
U.S. News World News Featured Voices
Odd News
Entertainment
Movies Music TV
Sports
Soccer NFL NBA MLB NHL Golf Horse Racing Tennis Col. Football Col. Basketball
Photos
News Entertainment Sports Features Archives
More...
Defense Featured Science Health Archive Almanac
About Feedback
About Feedback
Search
Trending
Haiti
SeaWorld rescue
Bernie Sanders
Karl Lagerfeld
Super moon
National emergency
Winter storm
Children slain
Shin Lim
EPA
Smurfs
Health News
Jan. 17, 2019 / 3:12 PM

Three-quarters of doctors feel burnout, experts call it a public health crisis

A new study found that roughly 78 percent of U.S. doctors feel some form of burnout, causing many to cut back on hours or leave the profession all together. Experts say it's a public health crisis.

By
Tauren Dyson
The burnout problem is leading to doctors reducing hours or just fleeing the professional altogether, researchers report. Photo by lenetstan/Shutterstock

Jan. 17 (UPI) -- Stress among the nation's doctors is causing burnout, leading experts to declare a public health crisis, new research says.

About 78 percent of physicians feel "emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and a diminished sense of personal accomplishment," according to a recent survey published

The burnout problem is leading to doctors reducing hours or just fleeing the professional altogether.

"The issue of burnout is something we take incredibly seriously because physician wellbeing is linked to providing quality care and favorable outcomes for our patients," Alain Chaoui, president of the Massachusetts Medical Society and study co-author, said in a news release.

RELATED More doctors, white people in region linked to lower skin cancer survival

"We need our health care institutions to recognize burnout at the highest level, and to take active steps to survey physicians for burnout and then identify and implement solutions," Chaoui said. "We need to take better care of our doctors and all caregivers so that they can continue to take the best care of us."

The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that by 2025, the United States will have a shortage of 90,000 physicians.

Added to that is the cost of recruiting and retaining new doctors, which normally runs between $500,000 and $1 million, the study says.

RELATED Wait-and-see is the wrong approach for some birthmarks, pediatricians say

The report, researchers say, was designed to highlight the problem of burnout among physicians and to present solutions to slow down the problem -- such as providing mental health treatment and improving the efficiency of electronic health records.

This has even led the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Harvard Global Health Institute, the Massachusetts Medical Society and the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association to call this problem a public health crisis.

"The growth in poorly designed digital health records and quality metrics has required that physicians spend more and more time on tasks that don't directly benefit patients, contributing to a growing epidemic of physician burnout," said Ashish Jha, a physician at the Veterans Administration and study co-author.

RELATED People with Caribbean, Latin American ancestry prone to kidney disease gene variant

"There is simply no way to achieve the goal of improving healthcare while those on the front lines - our physicians -- are experiencing an epidemic of burnout due to the conflicting demands of their work. We need to identify and share innovative best practices to support doctors in fulfilling their mission to care for patients," Jha said.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more UPI news and photos.

Trending Stories

Number of push-ups men can do in a row may indicate heart health
HPV unlikely to be spread by hands, researchers say
Apple-, pear-shaped body determined by genetics, study says
Smoking may hurt body's fight against skin cancer
More primary care physicians in the U.S. may prolong lifespans, study says

Photo Gallery

 
Palestinians celebrate Valentine's Day

Latest News

'The Newsroom': Aaron Sorkin shuts down reboot rumors
Rabbit does 20 tricks in 1 minute for Guinness record
Former Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson hospitalized after stroke
Politicians in Japan 'embarrassed' by Trump's Nobel Peace Prize claims
Ozzy Osbourne cancels tour dates due to pneumonia
 
Back to Article
/
Back to top
About UPI Contact Feedback Advertisements Submit News Tips
Copyright © 2019 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of UsePrivacy Policy