Provider Health and Wellness

Abstract

Provider health and wellness is a significant issue and can impact patient care, including patient satisfaction, quality of care, medical errors, malpractice risk, as well as provider and office staff turnover and early retirement. Health and wellness encompasses various areas including burnout, depression, divorce, and suicide and affects providers of all specialties and at all levels of training. Providers deal with many everyday stresses, including electronic health records, office politics, insurance and billing issues, dissatisfied patients, and their own personal and family issues. Approximately half of all physicians suffer from burnout, and the rate of burnout among physicians of all specialties is increasing. An important first step in dealing with burnout is recognition and then seeking assistance. Strategies to prevent and treat burnout include increasing provider resiliency as well as implementing practical changes in the everyday practice of medicine. There is currently very little data regarding health and wellness specifically in the field of allergy and immunology, and studies are necessary to determine the prevalence of burnout and related issues in this field. Many medical specialties as well as state and national medical associations have health and wellness committees and other resources, which are essential for providers. Health and wellness programs should be introduced early in a provider's training and continued throughout a provider's career.

Keywords: Addiction; Allergy and immunology; Burnout; Depersonalization; Depression; Divorce; Emotions; Exhaustion; Health; Mindfulness; Nurse; Personal accomplishment; Physician; Provider; Retirement; Stress; Suicide; Wellness.