If you’re a practitioner experiencing physical or mental stress because of overwork, you are not alone. In fact, according to Medscape’s recently-released 2024 Physician Burnout & Depression Report, physician burnout and depression throughout the U.S. has fallen a little as compared with last year, but still remains quite high.
Overall, 49% of physicians reported they were burned out, with 83% of both male and female physicians saying that it “job stress” was the reason for these feelings. When broken down even further, there were two main factors that created this job stress for physicians: 62% said it stemmed from too many bureaucratic tasks; 41% said they were spending too many hours at work.
“Half of physicians in this country are living through the signs and symptoms of burnout every day and the signs and symptoms of burnout are low self-worth, high blood pressure, terrible sleep and high cortisol levels,” said Ryan Mainey, Lead Educator for EVEXIAS Health Solutions who specializes in training physicians on the practice implementation side of the EvexiPEL method.
According to Mainey and other experts, there are three major reasons for burn-out among private practice providers: smaller reimbursements, increased administrative complexities, and a lack of business know-how.
Healthcare Reimbursements Have Plummeted
A healthcare reimbursement is the money that a provider makes for the medical services they supply, and since 2001 those reimbursements have been declining steadily. According to the American Medical Association’s (AMA) historical look at Medicare reimbursements, Medicare physician payments have decreased by 26% since 2001 when adjusted for inflation.
At the same time, healthcare expenditure continues to mount. In fact, before the pandemic, the National Health Expenditure (NHE) increased from $1.365 trillion in 2000 to $3.795 trillion in 2019, according to a report from the government on healthcare spending. But, instead of balancing the budget through other means, the government has chosen to cut factors like physician pay, which only makes up 14.9% of the total NHE, according to the American Medical Association.
What this means, essentially, is that providers in America who serve elderly patients on Medicare are making less and less for their efforts, even as medical student debt and inflation continue to climb.
What’s worse: Medicare reimbursement trends also impact the reimbursements provided by private insurers. As Dr. Bruce A. Scott, AMA president elect recently shared: “Private payers recognize the spiraling downward trend of Medicare payment and reimbursement, and as a result, they have linked their payment contracts to a percentage of Medicare. As a result, the payment from private payers goes down every year [with Medicare.]”
Providers within the insurance-based model are left with no other choice but to work faster, and in some cases, longer days. They’re cramming more patients into their schedules, spending less time with their patients, and coming up short on the resources they need to provide the best possible care to patients. And, as a result, doctors, most of whom are good souls just trying to find a way to help people live healthier lives, are left to suffer the physical and mental consequences of a mission left unfulfilled.
Administrative Complexities Are Mounting
Another contributor to physician burnout is increasing administrative complexities in healthcare. In other words, as society’s understanding of medical conditions has improved and new treatments, techniques, interventions, and systems are developed, the provider’s work become more complex, and much of it is not the healing work they signed up to do.
According to one JAMA study, time spent doing meaningful work influences people’s work satisfaction. Unfortunately, the medical profession is so bogged down with clerical and administrative tasks, to keep up with the increasing complexities of providing patient care, that physicians have little time to do the tasks they find meaningful.
The study continues that “large-scale changes to the US health system, including the introduction of electronic health records, the pervasive use of measures that are not evidence- based, and a growing emphasis on billing and coding, have engendered a clinical environment in which many physicians spend more time engaged in clerical work than they do seeing patients. This arrangement is antithetical to their motivations for practicing medicine.”
The increased expectations around clerical work also require many providers to work longer hours, often on administrative work that does not directly impact or works against their ability to give high-quality care. In fact, an article in the University of Illinois College of Medicine shared that “a recent simulation time study stated it would take 26.7 hours a day for a PCP (primary care provider) to fulfill all demands for a 2,500 patient panel. PCPs face an exhausting time burden across the United States.” This time-burden and bureaucracy contributes to increased rates of depression, anxiety, and burn-out.
Underemphasis on learning business skills
As a result of rising healthcare costs and the increased complexity of providing healthcare, it’s also imperative that providers beef up their business know how to find success and sustainability in their private practices.
As Dr. Richard Pitts, vice president of clinically integrated networks and senior medical director at St. Joseph Heritage Healthcare told Harvard Business School Online: “The complexities of delivering medical care are rapidly changing. There’s a constant pressure to find more effective ways to deliver healthcare while improving quality and still holding the line on costs.”
The article goes on to highlight that managing all those demands requires more than medical knowledge: “Healthcare professionals also need business skills if they want to deliver a high- quality patient experience while still meeting organizational goals.”
Mainey, who spent years working in training and development for large medical organizations before starting his own consultancy works with this mission in mind: To counteract burnout by giving people the tools they need to “realize their God-given gifts.”
One of the keyways he does this is by teaching practitioners and their clinics the EvexiPEL method for practice implementation, which includes business strategies and supportive systems that can help practitioners create sustainable and fulfilling private clinics that allow them to get back to what matters to them professionally.
“Physicians go to school to be physicians, not to be business owners,” said Mainey, “So, I supplement that knowledge for physicians as a practice consultant, showing practitioners how to eliminate burnout by showing them how to lead a team, implement new procedures in their office, how to delegate, provide feedback, and so forth.”
Banish Burnout with EvexiPEL
Burn-out is rampant among providers, that’s for sure. The combination of decreasing reimbursements, increasing complexities within the healthcare system, and a underemphasis on business skill training amongst medical professionals have created a perfect storm, and providers are caught in the eye of it.
All hope isn’t lost. Through the EvexiPEL Method of hormone replacement and practice implementation, providers have restored their work-life balance and returned to helping their patients enjoy their best health.
Ready to learn more? Become an EvexiPEL-certified provider today!