Abstract
Objective
To longitudinally evaluate the relationship between burnout and professional satisfaction
with changes in physicians' professional effort.
Participants and Methods
Administrative/payroll records were used to longitudinally evaluate the professional
work effort of faculty physicians working for Mayo Clinic from October 1, 2008, to
October 1, 2014. Professional effort was measured in full-time equivalent (FTE) units.
Physicians were longitudinally surveyed in October 2011 and October 2013 with standardized
tools to assess burnout and satisfaction.
Results
Between 2008 and 2014, the proportion of physicians working less than full-time at
our organization increased from 13.5% to 16.0% (P=.05). Of the 2663 physicians surveyed in 2011 and 2776 physicians surveyed in 2013,
1856 (69.7%) and 2132 (76.9%), respectively, returned surveys. Burnout and satisfaction
scores in 2011 correlated with actual reductions in FTE over the following 24 months
as independently measured by administrative/payroll records. After controlling for
age, sex, site, and specialty, each 1-point increase in the 7-point emotional exhaustion
scale was associated with a greater likelihood of reducing FTE (odds ratio [OR], 1.43;
95% CI, 1.23-1.67; P<.001) over the following 24 months, and each 1-point decrease in the 5-point satisfaction
score was associated with greater likelihood of reducing FTE (OR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.03-1.74;
P=.03). On longitudinal analysis at the individual physician level, each 1-point increase
in emotional exhaustion (OR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.05-1.55; P=.01) or 1-point decrease in satisfaction (OR, 1.67; 95% CI, 1.19-2.35; P=.003) between 2011 and 2013 was associated with a greater likelihood of reducing
FTE over the following 12 months.
Conclusion
Among physicians in a large health care organization, burnout and declining satisfaction
were strongly associated with actual reductions in professional work effort over the
following 24 months.
Abbreviations and Acronyms:
FTE (full-time equivalent), MBI (Maslach Burnout Inventory), OR (odds ratio)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Footnotes
For editorial comment, see page 408
Grant Support: Funding for this study was provided by the Mayo Clinic Office of Organization and Leadership Development and the Mayo Clinic Department of Internal Medicine Program on Physician Well-being.
Identification
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© 2016 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
