S Shearer1, M Toedt. 1. Department of Family Practice, Franklin Square Hospital Center, Baltimore, MD, 21237, USA. steves@helix.org
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to characterize how family physicians perceive recent changes in the health care system and how content they are with various factors. STUDY DESIGN: We performed a cross-sectional mailed survey. POPULATION: The survey was completed by a random sample of 361 family physicians practicing in the United States. OUTCOME MEASURES: The survey evaluated attitudes about corporate managed care, health care reform, career satisfaction, compensation, personal life satisfaction, workload stress, personal well-being, and residency training. We reported percentages for Likert-rated survey items, factor analysis of the survey, and a regression model for statistical prediction of the 4 major factors. RESULTS: Relative to survey data gathered in 1996, fewer family physicians in our survey reported that they were satisfied with their careers (59% vs 82%); fewer were satisfied with their compensation (55% vs 65%); and fewer would again choose family practice as their specialty (66% vs 75%). Thirty-one percent worried that they were "burning out" as physicians, and 48% reported that they had experienced more stress-related symptoms in the past year. Only 7% agreed that corporate managed care is the best way to provide the health care America needs at a cost society can afford, but only 36% unequivocally endorsed the concept of a national health plan. Forty-two percent of the respondents reported that they had witnessed bad patient outcomes they perceived to be attributable to managed care business processes. CONCLUSIONS: The morale and career satisfaction of family physicians seems to have eroded in recent years, and discontent is common. As a group, family physicians are unhappy with the current health care system and quite unified about certain specific reforms, yet they are far from such consensus about more sweeping reform.
OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to characterize how family physicians perceive recent changes in the health care system and how content they are with various factors. STUDY DESIGN: We performed a cross-sectional mailed survey. POPULATION: The survey was completed by a random sample of 361 family physicians practicing in the United States. OUTCOME MEASURES: The survey evaluated attitudes about corporate managed care, health care reform, career satisfaction, compensation, personal life satisfaction, workload stress, personal well-being, and residency training. We reported percentages for Likert-rated survey items, factor analysis of the survey, and a regression model for statistical prediction of the 4 major factors. RESULTS: Relative to survey data gathered in 1996, fewer family physicians in our survey reported that they were satisfied with their careers (59% vs 82%); fewer were satisfied with their compensation (55% vs 65%); and fewer would again choose family practice as their specialty (66% vs 75%). Thirty-one percent worried that they were "burning out" as physicians, and 48% reported that they had experienced more stress-related symptoms in the past year. Only 7% agreed that corporate managed care is the best way to provide the health care America needs at a cost society can afford, but only 36% unequivocally endorsed the concept of a national health plan. Forty-two percent of the respondents reported that they had witnessed bad patient outcomes they perceived to be attributable to managed care business processes. CONCLUSIONS: The morale and career satisfaction of family physicians seems to have eroded in recent years, and discontent is common. As a group, family physicians are unhappy with the current health care system and quite unified about certain specific reforms, yet they are far from such consensus about more sweeping reform.
Authors: M D Pérez-Cárceles; J E Pereñíguez-Barranco; E Osuna-Carrillo de Albornoz; A Luna-Maldonado Journal: Aten Primaria Date: 2006-02-15 Impact factor: 1.137
Authors: Danny McCormick; Steffie Woolhandler; Anjali Bose-Kolanu; Antonio Germann; David H Bor; David U Himmelstein Journal: J Gen Intern Med Date: 2009-01-29 Impact factor: 5.128