Geneia Survey Finds 84% Of Physicians Believe Quality Patient Time May Be Gone

Invites Physicians to Compete in the Joy of Medicine Challenge

Boston, MA /PRNewswire/ - Geneia today revealed the striking findings of its Physician Misery Index, and in response to these results, invited physicians to share their ideas to restore the Joy of Medicine.

A Google Hangout featuring Heather Lavoie of Geneia, Dr. Jennifer Joe of Medstro, and Dr. Bryan Vartabedian will be held at 2:00 pm Eastern on Thursday, March 5th.  To participate in the Google Hangout, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-dYZiQjIN8.

In a nationwide survey among more than 400 physicians who practice medicine full time, Geneia found:

• Two-thirds (67%) of all surveyed doctors know a physician who is likely to stop practicing medicine in the next five years, as the result of physician burnout. This includes both younger and more experienced doctors.
• Despite their education and skill, a majority of doctors (51%) say they have considered career options outside of clinical practice. That percentage is even higher among those who have been practicing medicine for less than 10 years – 62% say they have considered other options.
• 78% of doctors say they frequently feel rushed when seeing patients.
• An overwhelming majority – 87% - say that the "business and regulation of healthcare" has changed the practice of medicine for the worse.
• Overall, the nationwide Physician Misery Index is 3.7 out of 5, indicating that scales are tipping from satisfaction to misery.

"We found that most physicians still love medicine, but increasingly are frustrated by the business of medicine.  For most physicians, the ability to create meaningful relationships with their patients and truly impact health outcomes is why they entered the practice of medicine in the first place, and is critical to experiencing joy in their work.  Yet 84% of respondents believe that quality patient time may be a thing of the past," said Heather Lavoie, Geneia's Chief Operating Officer.  "At Geneia, we're deeply concerned about physician dissatisfaction and the implications for doctors and their patients, and that's why we created the Joy of Medicine Challenge."

Geneia and Physicians are Partnering to Restore the Joy

The Geneia Joy of Medicine Challenge is an online competition to solicit ideas from U.S. licensed physicians on how to best restore the meaning behind the practice of medicine.  Judging will be done by a panel of physician judges in combination with peer-sourced, online voting.  The winner in each of the three categories – the EHR of the Future, Population Health, and Joy of Medicine - will receive a $1,000 cash prize and one winner will receive in-kind Geneia consulting resources valued at $5,000 to help refine their idea.  The Challenge is being managed by Medstro, a social professional networking and career development community by physicians for physicians.

"Today's physician is juggling increasing demands, and the level of stress and burnout is escalating," said Dr. Jennifer Joe, CEO of Medstro.  "It's high time we involve physicians in creating solutions to restore their joy in practicing medicine."

"As one who has been talking about the intersection of medicine and technology for nearly a decade, I believe wholeheartedly in the potential for technology to improve the practice of medicine and the professional lives of physicians. But we're not there yet.  That's why I'm eager to hear the ideas that physicians have for restoring the joy of medicine," said Dr. Bryan Vartabedian, a pediatrician atBaylor College of Medicine/Texas Children's Hospital, one of healthcare's influential voices on technology and medicine, and a judge for the Joy of Medicine Challenge.

Physicians interested in joining the challenge can submit their ideas until April 29th by visiting https://medstro.com/groups/joy.  Finalists will be announced in May and invited to a live pitch off later this year.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150304/179596-INFO