Blueprint being developed to address physician burnout

(HealthDay)—A new, three-pronged approach is being applied to develop a blueprint for addressing physician burnout, according to a report published in Medical Economics.

William J. Maples, M.D., executive director for the Institute for Healthcare Excellence in Omaha, Neb., and two other leaders on burnout have convened a national task force designed to restore the joy and purpose to medicine.

The first gathering took place in November 2016 and focused on three key strategies to develop a national blueprint for change that could be adopted by any health care institution or practice. The first strategy focused on telling the story about burnout and creating a business case for the issue. The second strategy tackled developing a blueprint for change, which involves developing a more structured approach and taking the onus off physicians for managing burnout on their own. Finally, a team is working to measure burnout to help institutions assess burnout quotients. One of the goals of the task force is to focus on enhancing connection, relationships, and communication versus checking things off a list of tasks.

"I'm hopeful that our blueprint team will offer avenues for organizations to actually do the work that's going to make the difference in the long run," Maples said in the article.

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