Physician Survey Offers Glimpse Into Thoughts About Work, Burnout, Pay

An annual survey conducted by a physician staffing firm found more providers working a few more hours and showing signs of burnout amid some concerns about reimbursement. The Medicus Firm, a staffing company in Texas and Georgia, said it is the 15th year it has conducted the survey.

Here are a few of their findings:

Work Hours and Burnout

About 38% of physicians indicated that they work more than 50 hours per week, similar to last year. There was a 2-point increase in the percentage of physicians who said they work more than 60 hours, to 18.4%.

Most physicians indicated experiencing 1 or more symptoms of burnout in the past year (85% to 90%). Reported symptoms of burnout include physical or mental exhaustion, depersonalization or lack of caring, and decreased efficacy. Interestingly, more than 37% of physicians reported doing some sort of moonlighting.

Value-Based Pay

There has not been much movement this year over last year in terms of implementing value-based physician compensation. Answers to questions about any changes in the status of value-based pay showed no huge swings, with 43% of physicians (compared with about 41% last year) reporting with certainty that any portion of their pay is value-based.

Nearly half of those physicians also reported that their value-based income is 10% or less of their total compensation structure.

Workplace and Compensation

Hospitals and health systems are the most frequent employers of physicians; fewer physicians are owners or partners in their own medical practice. This year, 64% of physician survey respondents are employed, compared with 58% last year.

The percentage of physicians planning a definite or potential career move in the next 12 months increased 2 percentage points to 19.8%. Similarly, providers who said they are “definitely not” making a career change declined by more than 2.5 points, to 26%.

Provider concerns rose 6 percentage points to 46%, regarding payor mix and declining reimbursements (9.5% and 36%, respectively). Those 2 factors remain the most limiting factors for physicians’ income, in their opinion.

They were almost evenly split into thirds on the question as to whether or not they were satisfied, unsatisfied, or neutral with their income levels. Nearly half said their income would stay the same in 2018, and about one-third said 2018 income would “increase somewhat.”

Survey respondents were drawn from all specialties, but pediatrics, family practice, emergency medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, and internal medicine providers were the most heavily represented. A total of 2219 physicians took part in the survey.