Physicians employed by hospitals and corporations more dissatisfied than independent doctors

By Jeff Lagasse for Healthcare Finance

A national survey from analytics company Geneia found physicians who are employed by hospitals and corporations are more dissatisfied and burned out than those who work independently and in physician-owned practices.

The survey focused on 300 full-time physicians who have been practicing post-residency medicine for more than four years.

WHY IT MATTERS

Of the physicians tapped for the survey, 60 percent agree “it happens more and more often that I talk about my work in a negative way.”

The breakdown is revealing: 69 percent of corporate/hospital-owned physicians agree they are talking about work in a more negative way, compared to 51 percent agreement among physician/independent-owned respondents. That’s a plus-18 percentage point gap in opinion between ownership models.

Nearly all physicians — 96 percent — report they have witnessed or experienced physician burnout impacts such as cynicism, severe stress, dissatisfied patients and lower empathy for patients.

Physicians working in corporate or hospital-owned organizations were even more likely to witness or experience the negative impacts of burnout.

Again, the numbers are revealing: 57 percent of physician-owned/independents report lower empathy for patients as the result of physician burnout, compared to 72 percent of corporate/hospital-owned physicians, a gap of plus-15 percentage points

WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW

In October, Geneia revealed that its Physician Misery Index has climbed to nearly 4 out of 5, and in response, has called on all health IT companies to involve physicians in the design and implementation of health technology products and to measure physician satisfaction.

THE TREND

Physician burnout is an unfortunate reality in the healthcare industry, as doctors and clinicians cope with time-consuming technologies and complex electronic health records that infringe on time spent with patients. Luckily, there are innovations that can help circumvent the issue.