Author Name Jennifer Bresnick
EHRs, meaningful use, and ICD-10 aren’t the only things stressing out physicians who are increasingly struggling to make ends meet while rising to the challenges of federal initiatives and changing patient demographics. A survey of 20,000 providers conducted by The Physicians Foundation reveals that more than eight in ten physicians feels like they are over-extended or operating at full capacity when it comes to the number of patients they must see each day in order to keep revenue flowing. More than forty percent are even considering taking drastic steps to decrease their workload, including turning patients away, reducing their hours, or even fleeing clinical work all together.
Physicians responding to the survey work an average of 53 hours a week and see 20 patients per day, but spend 20% of their time on non-clinical paperwork. The vast majority, eight-five percent, have implemented EHR technology, but few physicians are satisfied with the outcome. Only 24% think EHRs have improved their efficiency, while just 32% believe the technology has had a positive impact on patient care. Forty-seven percent added that EHRs detract from positive interactions with patients, which has been highlighted in other studies as one of the key reasons physicians keep doing their jobs.
As the stressors continue to pile up, so do reasons to opt out of the practice of medicine. Thirty-nine percent of providers plan to accelerate their retirement due to unsatisfactory changes in the healthcare system. Half of physicians believe that ICD-10 will cause a severe disruption to their practice, and even more admit to having somewhat to very low levels of morale. Older physicians and those who own their own practices were more likely to express sour attitudes towards the impact of healthcare reforms, while the growing number of employed physicians were slightly more sanguine about the future.
