Support Your Physicians by Asking These 3 Questions
National Doctors’ Day (March 30th) provides a great opportunity to reevaluate the steps your facility is taking to support your physicians who work so hard for you and your patients.
Here are a few questions to consider when assessing how well you support your physicians:
Are You Fueling Your Physicians’ Sense of Purpose?
One of the best ways you can support your physicians is by encouraging their passion, whether it be for medicine, for helping patients and their families, for serving the community, or any other meaningful reason they have for doing the work they do.
Fostering a sense of meaning in work can improve employee engagement, reduce physician burnout, and lower employee turnover. According to Forbes contributor David K. Williams, the secret to helping employees find meaning in work is communication:
“If leaders focus on communicating the company’s mission, and the employee’s place in the success of that mission, they can have a significant impact on the overall level of fulfillment of their employees.”
He suggests that leaders “frequently discuss the meaning of the organization” and recognize employees for their personal contribution to that meaning.
Are You Making Your Physicians’ Jobs Easier or More Difficult?
Physicians are extremely busy. Is the technology you provide them helping or hindering their time management?
Time-consuming and cumbersome administrative tasks and paperwork can overwhelm physicians and distract them from the reason they became doctors in the first place: to help patients.
Alleviate physician stress by implementing solutions that:
1. Eliminate lost physician orders
2. Facilitate the sending, receiving, finding, and integrating of critical data to achieve interoperability
3. Prevent reimbursement issues
4. Provide real-time communication across departments
Are You Investing in Your Physicians?
Do you provide opportunities for your valuable physicians to learn and grow in the vital roles they fill for your organization? Millennial healthcare employees may especially appreciate opportunities for growth and development, continued training, and education at work. You can also support your physicians by offering or funding mindfulness training, empathy training, and emotional support programs to help prevent or reduce physician burnout.
Again, National Doctors’ Day is TODAY (March 30th)! Now is the perfect time to rejuvenate your commitment to support your physicians with these suggestions. And remember to celebrate the physicians who have made a difference for you and your family by personally thanking them and honoring them each March 30th for the hard work they do all year long.
You can also find ideas for promoting other health observances throughout the year here, and a detailed calendar of this year’s health observances and recognition days here.
