Last week’s issue of The New England Journal of Medicine led off with an article titled “Innovation in Primary Care — Staying One Step Ahead of Burnout,” that may be of interest to PRN readers.
The article, written by Susan Okie, MD, focuses on methods used by primary care physicians to stay on top of patient care, above ground financially, and in control psychologically. Methods used by general internist Christine Sinsky, MD, of Kaiser Premanente Colorado, are highlighted as examples of best practices in these regards.
Interestingly, the author reports that “Kaiser Permanente Colorado employs approximately 300 primary care physicians, 77% of whom see patients less than full-time. Despite extensive support, the workload and stress of primary care have rendered it “not sustainable full-time” for many physicians, said Smith, the associate director for primary care and service. Turnover among Kaiser Permanente’s primary care doctors is much higher than among specialists, and Smith struggles to recruit enough primary care internists to replace those who retire or leave the area, much less add physicians to keep up with demand. “We’re unable to fill our positions as quickly as we need to,” he said. Doctors’ “panels have grown, and we’ve been working really hard to get them back down.” It takes 10 months to fill a vacancy for a general internist, as compared with 2 months to hire a physician assistant, so in the past 6 months, the organization converted six physician positions into slots for nine physician assistants or nurse practitioners.”
The many challenges faced by primary care physicians, and the profound impact on this physician group in the United States, are all too well known to PRN readers. In this article, the author goes on to highlight ways that doctors can balance time and effectiveness, avoid burnout, and therefore, perservere in their attempts to deliver care to their patients.
To read the rest of the article, please visit the NEJM website.
