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Time pressures¹ and lack of patient trust² are factors that can contribute to physician burnout. Patients who self-diagnose based on internet research combine these factors. Expecting self-diagnosing-patients to passively receive physician-delivered medical information will likely increase the frustration of both parties. Therefore, it can be more productive with these challenging patients to integrate their internet information into patient education.

Angry and violent patient encounters can contribute to physician burnout. The effective management of these encounters with challenging patients can help reduce the impact they have and help maintain a safe work environment. Although many of the triggers of patient anger are avoidable or at least can be moderated, managing violent patient encounters may require different strategies.

Non-compliant patients are among the stressors that can result in physician burnout.¹ The cause of noncompliance varies² from patient to patient, and often depends on the complexity of their situation and their ability to comply. Low patient activation, low health literacy, inability to pay for treatment, and behavioral health issues may all contribute to a patient’s failure to comply with treatment recommendations. Re-framing the issue–from dealing with challenging patients who willfully disregard medical advice to helping patients overcome barriers to adherence–may diminish the frustration associated with patient noncompliance that contributes to physician burnout.

Chronic pain physicians experience significantly worse physician burnout than other physicians,¹ and physician burnout may be a contributing factor to the opioid epidemic². Physicians suffering from physician burnout may not possess enough time or energy to fully explore non-opioid alternatives to chronic pain patients. It is a vicious cycle, but there are strategies physicians can use to break it.

Research indicates that a majority of physicians may be suffering from burnout and that burnout is nearly twice as prevalent among physicians as among other workers in the United States. Who or what is responsible for physician burnout is a complicated question that has prompted a great deal of research over many years. Burnout in physicians has been defined as emotional exhaustion, impersonal reaction to patients, feelings of incompetence, low achievement, and lack of motivation. There are multiple tools to measure physician burnout and wellness. Assessing the problem is a key organizational and personal strategy for ensuring quality patient care and physician well-being.