Will technology restore the joy of medicine?

Doctors are unhappy and increasingly dissatisfied with their professional lives.

Nearly 8 in 10 physicians might balk before seeking mental healthcare due to perceptions of stigma around doctors admitting they need that kind of help. ??

The ratios are similar for residents and medical students. And the findings are especially troubling given the portions of all three groups saying they often have feelings of burnout (60%, 60% and 70%, respectively).

So reports the Physicians Foundation after surveying 1,113 physicians, 501 residents and 500 medical students in June.

The findings summary shows physician burnout has plateaued at 6 in 10 over the past few years after rising from 4 in 10 in 2018.

Other key findings: ?????????

• More than half of medical students (55%) have felt hopeless or that they have no purpose. This is well north of such feelings among residents (43%) and physicians (34%). ?
• Just under half of physicians (48%) and residents (48%)—and more than half of medical students (55%)—said they know a colleague or peer who said they would not seek mental healthcare.? ?
• Only 31% of physicians agree that their workplace culture prioritizes physician wellbeing. That’s down from 36% a year ago.? ?
• Among the 30% or so of physicians who have been through a merger or acquisition over the past five years, only one-fifth had a hand in any part of the decision. ?
• Just 11% to 16% of physicians, residents and medical students believe private-equity funding is good for the future of healthcare.

Also of note, at least half of physicians and residents feel that nonclinical duties—insurance requirements, documentation protocols, regulatory policies, mandatory training requirements—often or always work against their mission to deliver high-quality and cost-efficient care.

Many think shiny new objects are the answer. What is the burnout impact factor?

Are AI regulators the prophets of salvation or doom?

Can technology restore the joy of medicine i.e. make it easier and more pleasurable to do more doctoring and less documenting and digitizing? Or does it make physician personal well-being and professional satisfaction worse? Grumpy doctors are dangerous to your health, they make patients unhappy, and they are leaving an already stressed sick care system of systems, so the answer has an impact.

Technology supporters make the claim that, when properly developed and deployed, that information and communication technologies are the solution to professional burnout and disengagement.

Others claim that the "doctor relationship" has been crucified on the cross of IT and that digital minimalism is the answer.

Restoring physician well-being and professional satisfaction will take a much more comprehensive approach and producing a plan to sell a variety of audiences on your idea and yourself.

Professional societies are part of the solution and need to reassess their purpose. Just like we need more entrepreneurial medical schools , we need more entrepreneurial medical societies.

Exploring and exploiting existing business models are the next steps. Here are five things to keep in mind.

Organizations in all sectors are increasingly required by their investors, customers, employees, and wider stakeholders to articulate a clear statement of corporate purpose. Purpose isn’t about profit maximization; it’s the reason the organization exists.

The purpose of medical societies is to support their members' personal well-being and professional satisfaction in whatever ways members choose to pursue it. In so doing, they enable and empower members to improve the health of the communities they serve. Medical professional societies are now irrelevant because they don't do the jobs their members want them to do, and they have lost touch with their stakeholders.

Restoring the joy of medicine are convenient buzzwords and sound like a worthy goal. It will take more than tweaks and minor changes.

Getting there will involve a lot more pain before doctors get to experience the long-lost pleasure, because the medical-industrial complex is entrenched and will resist, even if "We're from Google and we're here to help you".

Even the best technologies are unlikely to help us rediscover the Lost Tribe of Medicine.

Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA is the President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs on Substack and Editor of Digital Health Entrepreneurship