The financial cost of physician burnout

Editor's Note

A lack of awareness of the financial burden of physician burnout and uncertainty about what can be done to reduce or prevent it have been barriers to organizations taking action to address the problem, finds this study.

Reviewing available evidence and analyzing the financial costs of physician burnout to healthcare organizations, researchers considered an organization with 450 physicians and an annual turnover rate of 7.5% and estimated the organizational cost of physician turnover would be $16.9 million per year.

Addressing the issue of physician burnout is not only an organization’s ethical responsibility, it is the fiscally responsible one, the researchers say.