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Chronic pain physicians experience significantly worse physician burnout than other physicians,¹ and physician burnout may be a contributing factor to the opioid epidemic². Physicians suffering from physician burnout may not possess enough time or energy to fully explore non-opioid alternatives to chronic pain patients. It is a vicious cycle, but there are strategies physicians can use to break it.

Research indicates that a majority of physicians may be suffering from burnout and that burnout is nearly twice as prevalent among physicians as among other workers in the United States. Who or what is responsible for physician burnout is a complicated question that has prompted a great deal of research over many years. Burnout in physicians has been defined as emotional exhaustion, impersonal reaction to patients, feelings of incompetence, low achievement, and lack of motivation. There are multiple tools to measure physician burnout and wellness. Assessing the problem is a key organizational and personal strategy for ensuring quality patient care and physician well-being.

Healthcare organizations are increasingly recognizing the importance of engaging physicians and other clinicians in their leadership teams, and this engagement will become even more important as the healthcare environment becomes more challenging. However, leadership responsibilities can contribute to stress and physician burnout when physicians and other clinicians don’t have the leadership skills needed to work collaboratively with their peers or when organizations lack a collaborative culture.

A medical malpractice lawsuit can be overwhelming, affecting physicians and other clinicians both personally and professionally. Even before the resolution of the lawsuit, the stress from the litigation process can impact their practice and potentially their family, and may even diminish the prospects of a successful outcome to their case. Although 34 percent of physicians have been named in a malpractice claim, a lawsuit is still personal and is a contributing factor to physician burnout.

Achieving work-life balance can be particularly challenging for physicians, who often devote far more than 40 hours per week to work-related activities. This imbalance often leads to physician burnout. With the support of administrators, physicians and other clinicians can maintain balance between work and non-work activities by using deliberate planning and by setting realistic expectations.