According to a
2019 Medscape survey, 44% of US physicians experienced burnout last year.
In other words, almost half of practicing physicians did not experience the joy of treating patients.
?
Why is this number important for you?
Financial security and burnout are inexorably tied. A solid financial foundation minimizes the likelihood that physicians will experience burnout. Further, more money leads to more options, making recovery from burnout easier.
By helping physicians build wealth, you can be part of the solution.
Here are some specific steps you can take to engage more physicians and dentists.
Educate yourself about burnout. Set up a free Medscape account and read the entire burnout report.
Talk about burnout as part of your discovery process. Ask doctors:
- What attracted you to a career in medicine? How close are you to that dream?
- On a scale of 1 to 10, what is your level of satisfaction with your career?
- Have you experienced burnout this past year?
Be aware of the connection between burnout, depression and suicide. In the US one doctor a day takes his/her own life—the highest of any profession. If you are worried that a doctor might be suicidal, here are some tips.Identify contributing factors for burnout that you mitigate.
- If you work with physicians in early stages of their careers, offer debt repayment plans. This could be a fee-based service. Remember, physicians will most likely have lifelong relationships with the first financial advisor with whom they work.
- If you work with doctors in their 50’s or 60’s, show them how they can move up retirement by 5 to 10 years.
- If you work with doctors in private practice, show them how they can use the new tax law to radically reduce their tax bills. One of my clients is a tax strategist who helped a physician cut his tax bill by $948K in 2018. You read that right. Nine hundred forty eight thousand dollars.
- Help doctors in private practice collect what they’re owed. Many physicians walk away from as much as 30% of their revenue by not following up on rejected insurance claims.
- Help your employed physicians negotiate initial salaries or pay raises.
- Help physicians launch side gigs. Through my company Thriving DoctorsI help physicians who are interested in hanging up the white coat replace their incomes with revenue from entrepreneurial ventures. I would be happy to speak with your physician clients about options that would work for them.
Speak about burnout. Share articles about burnout on social media. Be sure to add value by including your own pearls of wisdom. If you host webinars or podcasts, lay out the ways in which burnout correlates with financial health.
In short, start talking about burnout; it's a topic that engages doctors.
© 2019. Vicki Rackner MD. All rights reserved.
You may reproduce this post with this byline:
Vicki Rackner MD is an author, speaker and consultant who offers a bridge between the world of medicine and the world of business. She helps businesses acquire physician clients, and she helps physicians thrive. Click here to get a complimentary copy of her latest book The Myth of the Rich Doctor .