This article first appeared in The Post and Courier
We write in response to the Jan. 21 letter to the editor, “Doctor burnout growing nationwide, jeopardizing health care access for all.”
We want to highlight that burnout is an occupational phenomenon directly related to work environments, not a mental health or medical condition attributable to the physician.
Most contributing factors involve bureaucratic tasks, imposing government regulations, lack of control and autonomy as well as dissolution of the doctor-patient relationship.
These affect medical professionals from tenured doctors to those still in training, resulting in a dissatisfaction rate greater than 50%.
The good news is that we have evidence-based solutions for reversing and preventing physician burnout that would keep our physicians in health care, practicing clinically and bringing back the joy in medicine.
The overarching commonality is giving doctors control over their practice to deliver services they are professionally qualified to provide, in the setting of their choice and focused on the best options for a given patient, not an administratively determined one.
There is no better place for the doctor-patient relationship to flourish than in independent practices.
In South Carolina, we are distinctively positioned to return the power of choice to doctors and patients.
The recent elimination of the Certificate of Need opened the door for physicians to establish small facilities not owned by hospitals.
Exempting doctors from noncompete clauses as a condition of employment will allow doctors to practice in the location of their choice and for patients to be able to follow their doctor wherever they are.
Doctors need to create the best environment for the type of medicine they want to practice.
Patients need to demand to be seen by independent physicians in non-hospital facilities, which are more accessible, cost effective and provide higher quality than hospital-owned outpatient ones.
The private sector needs to start investing in these facilities and services to increase supply. This is the cure for burnout.
KATIE COLE
Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine and psychiatrist, Mount Pleasant
Dr. MARCELO HOCHMAN
President, Independent Doctors of South Carolina, Charleston