Career and Life Planning Guidebook for Medical Residents

SECTION I: T MINUS THREE YEARS R E A D : CONSEQUENCES OF BURNOUT: Personal consequences. The consequences of burnout can be staggering for the individual physician both professionally and personally. There is an ethical argument that burnout needs to be addressed at a system level simply because of the human cost. It is, according to this argument, a moral imperative. The costs of burnout are also significant for a health care system. Because of its pervasive nature, burnout impacts patient safety, quality of care and patient satisfaction as well as the cost of delivering care. Work-related distress among doctors has been linked to the following: Increased physician turnover Decrease in physician engagement Poor communication and teamwork An increase in medical errors* An increase in malpractice suits A decrease in patient compliance rates Physician prescribing habits Physician test ordering *One study demonstrated mortality to be predicted by emotional exhaustion among the nurses and physicians of an ICU. The implication is that the risks associated with burnout are profound and have significant far reaching consequences. The cost of physician burnout to healthcare organizations seems steep. Fortunately, as you’ll see later on, the ROI for wellness interventions lends substantial financial incentive to pursue these initiatives aggressively. 2 CAREER AND LIFE PLANNING GUIDEBOOK FOR MEDICAL RESIDENTS 38