The Business Case for a Physician Wellness Program
Jan 27, 2023
As discussed in the last blog, the Quadruple Aim was emphasized in 2016 after US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD realized that the focus on the Triple Aim resulted in a dramatic rise in burnout. The Triple Aim - patient experience, population health, and lowering costs seemed to ignore the impact these massive changes would have on clinicians. The burnout rate rose to about 50%, yet few organizations adopted the recommendations to incorporate a Physician Wellness Program.
Executives who didn’t respond appropriately to the burnout crisis in the early stages (in 2016-2017) are now facing a much larger one.
Physicians who report higher levels of burnout are more likely to reduce their work hours and are twice as likely to leave their organization within the subsequent two years. Executives are now not able to recruit fast enough to replace the positions that have been vacated!
Replacing a physician is expensive, with estimates of $500,000 up to $1 million for recruitment, onboarding, and reduced productivity while the new physician gets up to speed. You save $20-$40 for every $1 spent on Physician Well-Being Resources. (Based on productivity savings using the VITAL WorkLife.com - ROI calculator).
Since the serious physician deficit is projected to worsen, attracting new physicians will become more competitive and costly in the coming years.
Nursing shortages are an even larger problem. Operation Nightingale uncovered an agencies capitalizeing on this plight by generating fraudulent nursing certifications for $17,000 each. What is this world coming to????
This is becoming a recruitment and retention point of CONTENTION!
The Business Case for a Physician Wellness Program:
As the image depicts, an effective physician wellness program lowers the prevalence and severity of burnout. Happier, healthier doctors are able to take better care of their patients. This makes the organization more financially stable by improving:
- quality
- safety
- physician and employee satisfaction
- patient satisfaction
- Recruitment and Retention - In these extreme workforce shortage conditions, this has become the major thing to contend with. You must keep the physicians (and nurses) you have and recruit others to replace the ones that left – the field is becoming very narrow and massively competitive!
Your wellness strategy should be designed as a recruitment tool and to set YOU up for a direct and measurable TRIPLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE:
1) PROVE you are the EMPLOYER OF CHOICE
If you have a highly regarded Wellness Program, recruitment and retention efforts become simpler. New residency graduates expect to have access to a wellness program, and if you don’t offer one, many will look elsewhere. Other applicants will notice how physicians in your organization are treated better; therefore are much more likely to choose you.
2) BECOME THE ORGANIZATION OF CHOICE
Happier, healthier doctors take better care of their patients and get along better with coworkers! Better quality of care, and improved employee and patient satisfaction result in:
- The Payors see the superior quality, safety, and patient satisfaction metrics and will contract more favorably with your healthier organization.
- The Patients will notice a difference in how it feels to be with your healthcare team and will not only return but tell others about their positive experiences.
3) THE ORG. IS MORE NIMBLE, STABLE, AND PROFITABLE THAN THE COMPETITION
Lower burnout and increased engagement naturally foster higher levels of trust between physicians and the leadership team. This positively affects collaboration and performance for everyone!
