The Cost of Physician Burnout Save

An article in the Annals of Internal Medicine has analyzed the cost-consequences of physician burnout, including costs related to physician turnover and reduced clinical hours.

They found nationally, using a conservative base-case model, that approximately $4.6 billion in costs related to physician turnover and reduced clinical hours is attributable to burnout each year in the United States. The overall range estimates are from $2.6 billion to $6.3 billion in multivariate probabilistic sensitivity analyses.

Moreover, the annual economic cost associated with burnout related to turnover and reduced clinical hours is approximately $7600 per employed physician each year.

These data suggest that phyician burnout has a substantial economic impact at the national and organizational level. So much so that analysis and proactive planning are needed to affect more favorable outcomes for physicians.