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Half Of U.S. Doctors 'Burned Out' As Obamacare Begins Third Year

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The number of U.S. physicians who say they are suffering “burnout” has jumped to more than half of doctors as the practice of medicine becomes more complicated and millions more Americans gain health coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

An analysis from researchers at the Mayo Clinic and the American Medical Association say doctors’ work-life balance is worsening, with the percentage of physicians who say they are suffering burnout rising to 54% in 2014 from 45% in 2011. The research, published in the December issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, was described as documenting a “disturbing trend” that could negatively affect the quality of patient care.

“Burnout and satisfaction with work-life balance among U.S. physicians are getting worse,” researchers said. “American medicine appears to be at a tipping point with more than half of U.S. physicians experiencing professional burnout. Given the extensive evidence that burnout among physicians has effects on quality of care, patient satisfaction, turnover, and patient safety, these findings have important implications for society at large.”

The study didn’t address the health law specifically or other new regulations requiring the use of electronic health records. But researchers did say doctors are facing a rapidly changing “landscape of medicine” given new payment models, which are fueled in part by the ACA. And the health law has given more Americans coverage to see doctors who are in short supply.

“Technology, legislation and market forces have contributed to consolidation of medical practices, fluctuating reimbursement, new care delivery models, increased productivity expectations for physicians and more widespread use of electronic medical records over the past several years,” researchers wrote.

The health law and commercial insurers like Aetna , Anthem  and UnitedHealth Group  are pushing doctors away from traditional fee-for-service medicine to value-based reimbursement that requires them to meet new quality measurements and patient outcomes. It also comes as they are seeing unprecedented numbers of patients thanks to the health law and amid a doctor shortage.

Companies like physician staffing firm MerrittHawkins, which places hundreds of physicians in jobs every year, said the survey of 20,000 doctors it does for the Physicians Foundation showed more than 80% of physicians consider themselves “overextended or overworked” or are at capacity. And only about 18% of these doctors said they have time to see more patients.

“Physicians by training and temperament are prepared for the rigors of clinical work,” MerrittHawkins president Mark Smith said. “They reach burnout when an onerous amount of bureaucratic requirements are layered on top of their patient care duties. The only way to address physician burnout is to relieve doctors of paperwork burdens in the same way some of their clinical responsibilities are being transferred to non-physician providers."

Doctor groups like the AMA say there are things that can be done to improve the work-life balance situation for physicians.

An analysis by the AMA and the RAND Corp. in 2013 said doctors would benefit by “reducing the cumulative burden of rules and regulations may improve professional satisfaction and enhance physicians' ability to focus on patient care.”

The AMA in recent years has been working to improve “professional satisfaction” and in June of this year announced the And the AMA in June announced a “STEPS forward” initiative to help doctors in a variety of ways to improve their practices.

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