Physician Misery Index Increases to Nearly 4 out of 5

HARRISBURG, Pa.,  /PRNewswire/ -- Geneia, a healthcare analytic solutions and services company that is simplifying the evolution to value-based care, revealed the Physician Misery Index, a tool the company established to measure national physician satisfaction, has increased to 3.94 out of 5, and in response, invited health information technology companies to join together to restore the Joy of Medicine.

In a July 2018 nationwide survey of 300 full-time physicians who have been practicing post-residency medicine for more than four years, Geneia found:

• 87 percent of surveyed physicians say they find it is increasingly harder to spend time "developing an authentic engagement with each patient."
• 80 percent say they are personally at risk for burnout at some point in their career.
• Nearly all surveyed doctors (96 percent) report they have personally witnessed or personally experienced negative impacts as a result of physician burnout
• 66 percent say the challenges of practicing medicine in today's environment have caused them to consider career options outside of clinical practice, an 11 percent increase compared to Geneia’s inaugural survey in January 2015.
• 89 percent say the "business and regulation of healthcare" has changed the practice of medicine for the worse. The intensity of agreement has increased over time; today, 57 percent strongly agree, up from 48 percent in 2015.
• 86 percent agree that "the heightened demand for data reporting to support quality metrics and the business-side of healthcare has diminished my joy in practicing medicine."
• Despite increasing awareness of pervasiveness of physician burnout, the nationwide Physician Misery Index has increased from 3.78 to 3.94 out of 5, since the January 2015 physician survey.

Female physicians, in particular, are frustrated by the challenges of practicing medicine and expressed greater dissatisfaction than their male counterparts. Female survey respondents are more likely to know a physician who is likely to stop practicing medicine due to burnout, consider options outside clinical practice at a higher rate, and feel more at risk for burnout.

"In the years since Geneia's inaugural Physician Misery Index, awareness of epidemic levels of physician burnout has increased dramatically," said Heather Lavoie, Geneia president. "Yet, there is much more work for all of us in healthcare to do to restore the Joy of Medicine to today's physicians. We're calling on all health IT companies to involve physicians in the design and implementation of health technology products and to measure physician satisfaction."

Join Geneia in Helping to Restore the Joy of Medicine

Geneia's survey showed physicians continue to be challenged by the electronic health record (EHR).

• 68 percent of physicians say the data collected by EHRs isn't being used and analyzed to its full potential
• 96 percent believe it's important for EHRs to be better designed so they seamlessly integrate with technology systems used by their office and insurers

"I know from experience that which gets measured gets done," said Aurel Iuga, MD, MBA, MPH, CMQ, Geneia chief medical officer. "That's why Geneia is committed to measuring the satisfaction of physicians as a part of onboarding new clients for our analytics and insights platform. Even more importantly, we will survey the physicians who use our products annually to gauge changes in sentiment and work with those doctors to remedy their technology and analytics pain points."

All health IT companies are invited to join Geneia in monitoring and addressing physician satisfaction and to use the company's nine-question physician survey.

For more information on the Joy of Medicine initiative and to download the physician satisfaction survey, see: http://marketing.geneia.com/2018/joy-of-medicine/.

Physicians who wish to take the survey and compare their answers to the national results are invited to visit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BD32LYM.

ABOUT GENEIA
Geneia LLC is a healthcare analytic solutions and services company that focuses on improving systems to support personalized, patient-centered care. We help clients improve outcomes, lower costs and restore the Joy of Medicine to physician practice. Our technology, education and training, insights and clinical services simplify the evolution to value-based care and drive alignment and collaboration among healthcare providers, health plans and employers. The company has offices in Harrisburg, PA and Manchester, NH. To learn more, visit Geneia.com or connect with us Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

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SOURCE Geneia