Summer social: Members praised good food, drinks and fun at the Budweiser Brewery
August 2, 2017President’s letter – Summer update
August 2, 2017NCMS 2017 wellness survey shows 69 percent of NoCo physicians sometimes or often have feelings of burnout
NCMS surveyed all actively practicing members to gauge levels of burnout among northern Colorado physicians, get a sense for what wellness resources large practices/hospital systems are providing, and ask what NCMS can do to help reduce burnout.
Top-line overview
- 53% of respondents describe their professional morale and feelings about medicine as “somewhat positive/optimistic” while 40% answered “somewhat negative/pessimistic.”
- When asked whether patient care is adversely affected by external factors, 45% of respondents say “a good deal,” 22% say “a great degree” and 26% say “somewhat.”
- 65% of respondents say they are at full capacity in current practice. 21% are overextended and overworked and 14% have time to see more patients and assume more responsibilities.
- When asked about burnout specifically, 36% “sometimes have these feelings,” 33% “often have these feelings,” and 24% “rarely have these feelings.” The national average of reported physician burnout is 54%.
- 43% of respondents said their practice provides resources for wellness. Examples given in the open-answer section include conferences and retreats, support/counseling, free lunch/coffee, and fitness benefits.
- 42% of respondents say it will be helpful if NCMS developed burnout resources for physicians. Examples given in the open-answer section don’t fall into clear categories like the previous question. Respondents ask for help with administrative burden, unity and collegiality, better reimbursement and continued advocacy.
The NCMS board of directors discussed the survey at their July 19, 2017 meeting and will develop resources to aid physician wellness to prevent burnout. “Physicians should not consider themselves something to be fixed or that they are failing in wellness strategies if they have feelings of burnout,” one board member said. “NCMS and other physician advocacy organizations must continue to push hard for changes to the system that is causing burnout in our colleagues.”
Method
NCMS staff sent three email blasts to a list of 623 members to solicit responses. We received 95 responses in all. One text message campaign went out to all members for whom we have cell phone numbers. Our response rate of 15% was much improved over past all-member surveys. Thank you to all physicians who participated.