Physician Burnout - A Tragic Consequence of Government Involvement in Health Care
Have you been to a physician recently? Did it seem that the doctor spent a lot of time typing information into a computer instead of listening to you? Studies not only confirm that this is today’s reality (here), but a paper released today concludes that these electronic health records (EHR) are one of two leading causes of physician burnout. (here)
Three groups from Massachusetts, the state medical and hospital associations as well as Harvard University, reviewed existing information and interviewed doctors in all stages of their practices. The MA study found that physician burnout is real. The two leading causes are the required use of EHRs and the stifling government regulatory burden.
Physician burnout includes one or more of three characteristics – emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment/experience of ineffectiveness. A survey done by the Physicians Foundation in 2018 found that 78 percent of doctors experienced one or more of these characteristics – an increase of four percent from 2016.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) estimates a doctor shortage of 90,000 physicians by 2025. Most of this shortage will be caused by practicing doctors retiring early because of burnout.
Physician burnout is a crisis caused directly by the government. In the late 2000s, the federal government began requiring the use of EHRs. Hospitals and doctors’ offices were essentially forced to set up EHRs at a cost of billions of dollars. The argument was that EHRs would improve patient outcomes and would provide a means of data collection. Although data collection is growing, there is no evidence that EHRs improve patient outcomes.
Doctor surveys reveal that in any one patient visit, 62 percent of the time is taken up by computer entry and only 38 percent of the time is direct physician/patient contact. For every one hour of patient contact, doctors estimate that they spend two hours entering EHR computer data or satisfying government regulations. Physicians must adhere to these regulations to maintain their medical licenses as well as to be paid by Medicare, Medicaid, and Obamacare.
The doctor/patient interaction is one of the most personal relationships we have. Government bureaucrats have inserted themselves between physicians and patients, leading to doctor burnout and patient dissatisfaction. The solution is to restore control to patients and their doctors, not the government. (here)