By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    headphones can create health problems
    The Harmful Health Effects of Using Headphones
    September 24, 2021
    Headache causes
    4 Causes Of Headache You Probably Didn’t Know About
    December 28, 2021
    follow these steps to recover from your injury
    What Steps Should You Take to Recover More Quickly from an Injury?
    April 12, 2022
    Latest News
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
    The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Magnesium Supplements
    June 11, 2025
    The Best Home Remedies for Migraines
    June 5, 2025
    The Hidden Impact Of Stress On Your Body’s Alignment And Balance
    May 22, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Cash Transfers: Good for HIV/AIDS Too
    August 9, 2012
    unnecessary medical tests
    Eagerly Awaiting the Death of Defensive Medicine
    September 5, 2013
    Image
    Mobile Health Around the Globe – mHealth Fighting Malnutrition in India
    December 17, 2012
    Latest News
    Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
    July 6, 2025
    Top HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps for Healthcare Teams
    June 25, 2025
    When Healthcare Ends, the Legal Process Begins: What Families Should Know About Probate and Medical Estates
    June 20, 2025
    Preventing Contamination In Healthcare Facilities Starts With Hygiene
    June 15, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Physician Wellness: Why It’s Such a Struggle
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Business > Hospital Administration > Physician Wellness: Why It’s Such a Struggle
BusinessHospital AdministrationMedical EducationWellness

Physician Wellness: Why It’s Such a Struggle

dikedrummond
dikedrummond
Share
7 Min Read
physician wellness
SHARE

In response to the chronic epidemic of physician burnout, there is a lot of talk about Physician Wellness these days. Hospitals and groups are being encouraged to establish a physician wellness committee and do something, anything, for the doctors.

Contents
Here is a true story of what often happens.Why is Physician Wellness such a struggle?If you say “wellness” to a group of doctors, these three things will happen.Let’s do this instead.The disease is physician burnout.The risk factor is physician stress.The task is to minimize the risk.And we need to prevent, detect and treat the disease.The Committee is the “Physician Burnout Prevention Committee.”PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT:

This article will tell you

In response to the chronic epidemic of physician burnout, there is a lot of talk about Physician Wellness these days. Hospitals and groups are being encouraged to establish a physician wellness committee and do something, anything, for the doctors.

This article will tell you

More Read

Hospitals Ineligible for Incentive Payments Lag Behind in EHR Adoption
How To Get a New Nursing Job Efficiently
Quality and Cost Savings Through Consumer Engagement
Insurance Shopping Tools Online: Open Enrollment Nears
Regulate Supplements
  • Why these committees often sputter and die a quick, silent death
  • Why the concept of physician wellness is always such a struggle

Here is a true story of what often happens.

physician wellnessA large academic medical center suffered two physician suicides in quick succession. The CEO “volun-told” a member of the medical school faculty to establish a physician wellness committee to address this issue. No funding was provided.

The board managed to scrounge 6 months of a 0.2 FTE in funds from other departments. All the time and all the money was spent researching what other organizations were doing about physician wellness. The project died researching “best practices” without producing a single visible action or effect.

This was one year ago. Nothing more has been done since.  This tragic missed opportunity is just waiting for another suicide to drive people into another six month flurry of activity at some point in the near future.

Reality Check:

Even though you can see how futile this effort was, this token attempt to address physician wellness is more than most healthcare organizations do for their doctors. In the average organization, the physicians and staff do not appear in the mission statement and there is no attempt to measure or address stress and burnout in the front line care providers. In this setting, physician burnout remains the elephant in the room that everyone does their best to ignore.

Why is Physician Wellness such a struggle?

“Wellness” is a totally foreign concept in healthcare – it is a non-starter.

Think about it. We don’t learn about health and wellness in our training. We never even used the word wellness in medical school and residency – not once. We were too busy learning a physician’s basic trade – diagnosing and treating disease. Our “healthcare” system is a disease management system. Doctor’s bandwidth is occupied 110% by rooting out disease and helping our patients prevent and treat it as best we can.

Wellness is a concept that is off the radar for physicians.

If you say “wellness” to a group of doctors, these three things will happen.

physician burnout1) Confused stares and silence. It often looks like the face a dog makes when it does not know what it is looking at: the head tilt and furrowed brow of complete confusion.

2) A 45-minute debate about the meaning of the word. Is wellness more than just the absence of disease? Can you have an adequately treated disease and be well? If everyone’s definition of wellness is different, how can we create physician wellness in a group of 120 doctors?

3) A small number the old guard muttering “physician wellness … bah … that’s just for pansies and women who never learned how to work like we had to when I was a resident.”(This is a direct quote, not my words.)

If you have ever tried to establish a physician wellness committee, you have seen all three of these reactions — sometimes simultaneously. Each of them destroys enthusiasm and buy-in. Physician wellness is possibly the worst possible term to use for what we are trying to create here.

Let’s do this instead.

Instead, let’s allow the physicians to stay in the disease paradigm and do what they do best – prevent, diagnose and treat disease.

  • The disease is physician burnout.

  • The risk factor is physician stress.

  • The task is to minimize the risk.

  • And we need to prevent, detect and treat the disease.

The Committee is the “Physician Burnout Prevention Committee.”

Immediately you can begin to have a productive conversation and plan your action steps, no matter how many physicians are in the meeting. You don’t have to research what other people are doing about an exotic concept like “physician wellness.” The research on prevention and treatment of physician burnout is deep and wide. AND remember this important point:

Anything you do to prevent or treat physician burnout automatically increases physician Wellness / Health / Happiness / Fulfillment / Engagement and Productivity.

Any reduction in physician burnout will also reduce its pervasive negative effects. Because here is what physician burnout is invisibly causing in your organization right now:

  • Lower patient satisfaction and care quality
  • Higher medical error rates and malpractice risk
  • Higher levels of physician and staff turnover
  • Conflict between administration and physicians and consistent physician resistance to change and innovation

When physicians see your organization surveying them for stress and burnout and actively working to lower their job stress levels, it builds trust and engagement — where a wellness committee would still be debating the meaning of the term or falling into the trap of researching best practices.

So here is my highest recommendation:

Let’s stop trying to get a physician wellness committee off the ground and focus on active physician burnout detection, prevention and treatment instead. Let the physicians do what they do best — and wellness is absolutely not it.

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT:

Does your group have a Physician Wellness Committee and how is that going?

TAGGED:physician wellness
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

9 Lifestyle Tweaks That Can Add Years to Your Life
9 Healthcare Lifestyle Tweaks That can Add Years to Your Life
lifestyle
July 11, 2025
car accident lawsuit
Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
Policy & Law
July 6, 2025
women dental care
What Is a Smile Makeover and How Much Does It Cost?
Dental health
June 30, 2025
HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps
Top HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps for Healthcare Teams
Global Healthcare Policy & Law Technology
June 25, 2025

You Might also Like

healthcare blogging tips
BusinessSocial Media

Beyond the Buzz: 25 Content Ideas for Your Healthcare Blog

November 14, 2014
Image
BusinessFinance

The Most Active VCs in Healthcare Since 2012

July 6, 2013
should nurse practitioner forms an LLC
BusinessCareerNursing

Should Nurse Practitioners Form an LLC?

December 14, 2022
FinanceHealth ReformHospital AdministrationPolicy & LawPublic Health

The Meaning and Depth of the Primary Care Crisis

March 25, 2014
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?