Berks County Medical Society Medical Record Spring_2018 - 11

Systems Changes Are Needed To:
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Implement true value-based care, with less emphasis
on numbers and more on quality, satisfaction, and positive
outcomes
Strengthen the physician-patient relationship
Improve EMR workflows to facilitate physician efficiency
and effectiveness
Increase the role of ancillary personnel (e.g. scribes and
medical assistants) to include more of the routine functions
of patient care into their responsibilities
Enhance the ability of physicians to focus on their core
competencies and central role of PATIENT CARE
(assessing, diagnosing, and treating patients) by spending
less time on clerical functions
Promote a culture of well-being that supports all staff to
practice healthy life styles and to achieve a sense of
satisfaction from their work

Organizational Strategies To Bring
About Systems Change*:
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o Offer flexibility in when and how to work, when possible
Provide resources to promote resilience and self-care
o Offering education and tools to aid physicians in selfawareness regarding their own well-being and in
recognizing when help or change is needed is particularly
important in view of the profession's emphasis on personal
sacrifice in the service of others
o This strategy should NOT be the PRIMARY
organizational response to burnout
Facilitate and fund organization science

*These nine organizational strategies were presented in the January
2017 Mayo Clinic Proceedings Special Article Executive Leadership
and Physician Well-being: Nine Organizational Strategies to
Promote Engagement and Reduce Burnout, by Tait D. Shanafelt,
MD, and John H. Noseworthy, MD, CEO. This article formed the
basis of a portion of a presentation titled Physician Burnout given
by Kolin Good, MD, on May 23, 2017. The secondary bullet
points in this list are based on her talk. Dr. Good is Chair of the
Department of Psychiatry, Tower Health Medical Group.

Acknowledge and assess the problem
o Measure physician well-being as an institutional quality/
performance metric
o Report to the institutional Board and Medical Executive
Council
Harness the power of leadership
o Develop the right leadership and measure leaders on
achievement of organizational goals for physician
well-being AND the way in which they achieve
those goals
o Leaders must work with physicians to identify the work
each physician finds most meaningful (physicians who
spend at least 20% of their professional effort focused on
the work they find most meaningful are at significantly
less risk for burnout)
Develop and implement targeted work unit interventions
o Improving workflows within a practice is the most
powerful antidote to burnout
o Quality improvement projects addressing clinical concerns
is another example of a powerful antidote
Cultivate community at work
o Create organization strategies to promote connections and
communication
Use rewards and incentives wisely
o Review current incentives and align them with the
organization's mission
Align values and strengthen culture
o Obtain feedback from staff surveys to create actionable
plans
Promote flexibility and work-life integration
o Provide options for physicians to work less than full-time
when desired

SPRING 2018

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Berks County Medical Society Medical Record Spring_2018

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