Burned out, burned up or just burned?

As you know, we have featured several articles and columns over the past year on physician burnout, professional dissatisfaction and resilience. These have prompted local conversations and debate mirroring those at the national level. Unfortunately solutions are much more elusive than illustrations.

Recently, a representative from the Pennsylvania Medical Society presented findings to our Medical & Dental Staff on professional satisfaction and identified isolation, cynicism and even depression as outgrowths of the current health-care environment. Dr. Ray Foley attended a national conference on this problem, which Stanford, Mayo Clinic and other large, highly respected institutions have taken on.  

The Medical Staff Office and leadership are working with our LG Health Physicians colleagues to start somewhere. We need your help to identify how we can assist with what is most important to you. Current thinking parses this out into care/work processes (including the electronic health record), personal life (concierge opportunities) and professional connections. Our MSO repurposed a concierge position years ago, when the service was not accessed. Perhaps a timing and opportunity gap.

We will not solve everything in short order. We hope to reduce the pain points many feel and reconnect us collectively and to the noble work we do for grateful patients. We certainly do not want to add burdens or unwanted events to an already overloaded staff.

You can help us prioritize our efforts by taking this brief survey. Thank you for your time.  

Sincerely and most respectfully,

Monty

Lee M. Duke II, M.D.
Chief Physician Executive
Progress Notes' Editor-in-Chief
LMDuke@lghealth.org