I’d like you to meet Phil.
Phil’s a 54-year-old surgeon from Connecticut with more than 25 years’ experience, dedication, and accomplishments in the profession. Too young to retire, he’s also too old to start over again. His practice had been going well for years until not that long ago. Competition was making inroads until a regional healthcare group offered to buy his practice. He reluctantly agreed.
This is where his story truly begins.
Physician Burnout
At first, Phil liked the fact that he saw more patients than ever. Fewer scheduling headaches. Lower administrative costs. But the pace started getting to him. Twelve minutes per person at 20 patients per day didn’t jibe with his usual “I need to get to know my patients first” style. Then he noticed he could be sent anywhere based on scheduling that was now out of his control. No more home base. Less help with growing paperwork. Less control than ever before.
Mind you, he understood the economic arguments for the acquisition he agreed to—economies of scale, access to more resources, etc.—but on an emotional level, he felt stuck. When once he was the boss giving the orders, now he was a name on a spreadsheet getting the orders. Increasingly isolated from patients and peers alike, his new reality was more organizational treadmill than collegial gristmill.
Limited Options
Frustrated, he started burning out, flirting with the idea of early retirement, contemplating a total career change. But none were feasible nor were they as satisfying as continuing in medicine, which he considered more a calling than a career. Until he realized there were self-care and wellness options to help through peer-to-peer forums.
This is where the story makes a turn for the better.
But before I go further, I have a confession to make…
Phil’s not a real person. He’s an amalgam of dozens of physicians whom I’ve worked with over the years who’ve gone through similar challenges that—trust me—are very real.
Help is Available
And they need to be addressed. For the individual. For the institutions where they work. And ultimately, for the patients whose lives they’ve entrusted to both.
But what many physicians don’t know is that there are resources available to help doctors facing these challenges—both locally in-person and virtually online.
The key is creating the trust that leads to bonding among peers who understand exactly what you’re going through. They often have answers based on experience. Based on fighting the same battles before you did.
From my own experience dealing with physicians struggling to navigate their post-consolidation worlds—including landmark work we did with Yale New Haven Health— these types of peer-to-peer forums help in four key areas, what I call the “4 C’s”…
The “Four C’s”
Coping — Peer-based forums can help by sharing personal solutions for self-care, family, and work-life conflicts. In our work with Yale physicians, 77% said they feel less burnout today and an equal percentage say they’re better able to manage stress now.
Connectedness — They help build networks of trusted colleagues to call on when needed — for work, or for extremes like suicide prevention. They can also help with the isolation that’s often associated with joining—and then fitting into—a new organization. 90% of physicians we worked with at Yale reported feeling less isolated and all said they met colleagues at Forums whom they’ll trust in the future.
Competencies — Forums can help participants tap into the “collective wisdom” of hundreds of years of experience within the forum. It can be a combination of best practice sharing and idea bank from which you can make deposits and withdrawals. 84% of Yale physicians said they’re now better at problem solving; 71% better at managing subordinates; and 67% showed improvement in time management.
Commitment — The end result? Not just individual self-improvement but institutional improvements as well. With those same Yale doctors whom we worked with and polled, all said they were now more connected to others outside their immediate department; 87% said they’d recommend their hospital as a place to practice; and 71% said they’re likely to remain at Yale for the duration of their career.
Peer-to-Peer: The Answers are in the Room
Finally, Phil may not be a real person, but the issues that thousands of physicians like him face every day are very real.
The Bottom Line is that healthcare practice consolidations aren’t going away. In fact, they may only be increasing in the months and years ahead.
But consolidations don’t have to be seen as threats. They can also be taken as opportunities to take individuals and institutions to a better place.
From our years of experience, peer-to-peer forums that lead to long-term bonding are the best way to get there so it’s win-win across the board.
The answers are in the room. But you must be there—in-person, or virtually—to hear them.
The first step is reaching out. And the sooner one does, the sooner those positive results start rolling in—for everyone involved.
Author
A serial entrepreneur who began his career at Harvard and Yale Universities, Earl Yancy is the founder of Yancy Forums, an organization dedicated to democratizing the professional peer-to-peer space. His forums help executives and leaders in healthcare, business, education, government, and other fields by focusing on problem solving, performance optimization, as well as attainment of professional and personal goals.