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October 24, 2019

Reducing Physician Burnout

Joseph DeVeau, MD, told his story of experiencing burnout during a presentation on October 14 at the Medical Group Management Association 2019 General Conference in New Orleans. In his talk, Dr. DeVeau said that being sued triggered increasing feelings of burnout.  Frustrated by a lack of acknowledgment or discussion surrounding physician burnout, DeVeau left clinical practice and enrolled in the Brown University Master of Healthcare Leadership Program to create a program to address burnout.  DeVeau made numerous suggestions for how to prevent and address burnout, such as leaving administrative and bureaucratic duties to others, embracing EHRs and technology, and the use of patient efficiency cards on which patients can list a few things they would like to discuss during appointments.  DeVeau stated that there has been a decrease in burnout rates since 2013, but that it remains an issue, especially in the fields of emergency medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, and family practice.