Survey: Physician morale suffering

Physicians are burned out, stressed out, and they've just about had it with the current state of healthcare, according to new findings of the 2006 American College of Physician Executives Physician Morale Survey. Among the surveys key findings:

• Nearly 60 percent of the 1,205 physicians who participated in the survey have considered leaving the practice of medicine.
• Almost 70 percent said they knew of at least one doctor who stopped practicing medicine due to low morale.
• The top five factors contributing to low morale were identified by the survey respondents as low reimbursement, loss of autonomy, bureaucratic red tape, patient overload, and loss of respect.
• The most common reported effects of low morale were fatigue, identified by 77% of respondents, emotional burnout (66%), marital or family discord and depression (32%), suicidal thoughts (4%), and substance abuse (3%).

The survey results are being reported in the November/December issue of The Physician Executive Journal of Medical Management.