Category: Physicians

Where the Female Doctors Are

Of the 978,743 practicing physicians in the U.S., women only account for just over a third of them. We break down the states with the most and least.

When it comes to physicians, men clearly dominate the profession. According to recent data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, of the 978,743 practicing physicians in the United States, women only account for just over one-third of them (34.4%).

So, where are the female doctors? Below are the five states with the most and least female physicians in the United States, as well as how many there are and what percentage of practicing physicians they account for.

States with the Most Female Physicians

  1. California – 38,140 practicing female physicians, 35% of all physicians
  2. New York – 33,066 practicing female physicians, 38.5% of all physicians
  3. Texas – 21,072 practicing female physicians, 33.5% of all physicians
  4. Pennsylvania – 17,015 practicing female physicians, 35% of all physicians
  5. Florida – 16,221 practicing female physicians, 29.7% of all physicians

States with the Least Female Physicians

  1. Wyoming – 315 practicing female physicians, 26.9% of all physicians
  2. South Dakota – 564 practicing female physicians, 28.3% of all physicians
  3. North Dakota – 569 practicing female physicians, 29.4% of all physicians
  4. Montana – 635 practicing female physicians, 27.5% of all physicians
  5. Alaska – 677 practicing female physicians, 36.8% of all physicians

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Major Medical Errors Linked to Physician Burnout

Medical errors are a major source of inpatient deaths in the United States, and now physician burnout has been linked to a higher risk of medical errors.

Medical errors are a major source of inpatient deaths in the United States, responsible for about 100,000 to 200,000 deaths yearly, and as it has been heavily reported, physician burnout is a national epidemic. But what is the correlation between medical errors and burnout, if any? According to a study led by Stanford researchers and published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings last month, the correlation may be more significant than one might think, as the results have found physician burnout may cause more medical errors than unsafe medical workplace conditions.

The study compiled survey results from 6,695 physicians nationwide, who were asked to respond to 60 questions on topics including fatigue, burnout, thoughts of suicide, and workplace safety.

Of the respondents, 3,574 (55%) reported symptoms of burnout, and 10.5% reported a self-perceived major medical error in the previous three months. Errors were most frequently categorized as an error in judgment (39.2%), a wrong diagnosis (20.0%), or a technical mistake (13.0%), and the highest prevalence of medical errors was reported by physicians working in radiology (23.3%), neurosurgery (21.8%), and emergency medicine (21.4%).

“We found that physicians with burnout had more than twice the odds of self-reported medical error, after adjusting for specialty, work hours, fatigue and work unit safety rating,” the researchers said. “High burnout, even in an excellent safety environment, is nearly as risky as no burnout in a unit that had a poor safety grade.”

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Women More Likely to Survive a Heart Attack if Doctor is Female

Female doctors outperformed their male counterparts in regards to heart attack survival rates, as a whole, and particularly, for women heart attack survivors.

A new study published by the National Academy of Sciences has examined patient gender disparities in survival rates following acute myocardial infarctions, or heart attacks, based on the gender of the treating physician, and has found that not only are women less likely than men to survive traumatic health episodes, such as heart attacks, overall, but that mortality rates of women following a heart attack are lower, if they are treated by a female physician. The findings also indicate that the mortality rate of females who experienced a heart attack decrease, if they are treated by a male physician with more female colleagues, or if that male physician has treated a higher percentage of female patients in the past.

Brad Greenwood, Seth Carnahan, and Laura Huang examined two decades worth of records from Florida emergency rooms, including every patient who was admitted for a heart attack from 1991 through 2010. The records revealed women are more likely to die in the years following a heart attack, even when age was accounted for, when treated by male physicians, compared with either men treated by male physicians or women treated by female physicians. Overall, the research suggests that female physicians outperformed their male colleagues in regards to survival rates, and their patients were more likely to live.

“These results suggest a reason why gender inequality in heart attack mortality persists: Most physicians are male, and male physicians appear to have trouble treating female patients,” the researchers wrote.

According to the study, the survival rate for men with female physicians was 88.1%, compared to 86.6% for women with male physicians—even after the team accounted for elements such as the doctors’ experience, and the patients’ age, ethnicity, and other factors.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

White Coats: Style Choice or a Sign of Better Care?

While an longstanding, iconic symbol of physicians, does wearing a white coat actually matter, when it comes to patient perceptions of trust and confidence?

The white lab coat has long been an iconic symbol of physicians—the reception of which also serves as a rite of passage for many—but does wearing one truly impact patients’ levels of trust and confidence in their doctors? While past studies have indicated that physician attire does affect patient perceptions, a new study from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston department of Obstetrics and Gynecology has found that wearing, or not wearing, a white coat has no impact on patient satisfaction.

The study, published in the American Journal of Perinatology, was conducted to determine if or how the white coat influences physician-patient communication, and in turn, satisfaction. In the study, new mothers in the postpartum unit at the hospital were randomly assigned to teams of rounding physicians, who either donned a classic white coat or not, but aside from this one variable, provided the same level of care. Shortly before discharge, the women completed a modified version of the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey, the only national, standardized survey used to measure patient satisfaction.

Of the respondents, 40% could not even recall whether or not their physician was wearing a white coat, and overall, the responses provided showed that the presence or lack of presence of a white coat did not impact the communication between patients and physicians, nor the patients’ satisfaction.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

The Best States to Be a Physician, Money-Wise

“Physician” is ranked as the most popular profession within the top 1% of earners, but where is it best, and worst, to practice medicine, according to your wallet.

Being a physician is a lucrative business, without question, and the high-paying salary is well deserved, given how hard physicians work to save and improve lives and the demands that come with the profession. But where does it make the most and least sense, financially, to practice medicine?

New findings from WalletHub, as determined by comparing the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 16 crucial metrics, including average salary, average starting salary, hospitals per capita, current and projected competition, CME requirements, and more, offer some insight. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for practicing doctors.

Below are the top five best and worst states and their scores, as found by the survey, as well as other key findings.

Top Five Best Places to Practice Medicine

  1. South Dakota (75.97/100)
  2. Nebraska (70.66/100)
  3. Idaho (70.64/100)
  4. Iowa (70.16/100)
  5. Minnesota (69.94/100)

Top Five Worst Places to Practice Medicine

  1. New Jersey (40.24/100)
  2. Rhode Island (40.86/100)
  3. New York (41.39/100)
  4. Hawaii (43.25/100)
  5. District of Columbia (45.75/100)

Highest Average Annual Wage for Physicians, Adjusted for Cost of Living: Mississippi
Lowest Projected Competition by 2024: Idaho
Least Punitive State Medical Boards: Maine
Lowest Malpractice Award Payout Amount per Capita: Wisconsin
Least Expensive Annual Malpractice Liability Insurance: Nebraska

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Physicians Are Burning out, but Unlikely to Seek Help

Despite more than half of physicians surveyed admitting they have experienced burnout, 67% said they have never met with a mental health professional.

Physician burnout is a deeply alarming and widespread problem in healthcare. We don’t have to tell you, however. According to a recent study conducted by locumstory, the chances are incredibly high that you, as a physician, have seen your fellow physicians experiencing it, or you have felt the effects of it, firsthand.

In a survey of more than 3,700 physicians, located in nearly every region of the country and working in nearly every specialty and setting, 74% of physicians reported seeing symptoms of burnout in their colleagues, while 52% personally admitted to feeling burnt out, and that same percentage (52%) stated that they believe burnout is affecting their job performance. The top two specialties that admitted to seeing burnout in themselves and reported it was affecting their job performance were emergency medicine and psychiatry. Surgeons were the least likely to report feeling burnt out.

The most common burnout symptoms reported were irritability and apathy, and about half of physicians also reported feeling chronic fatigue, as well as impaired memory and attention. A staggering 6% of those surveyed admitted that they have contemplated suicide because of the demands of their profession, and more than 10% said they take medication for anxiety or depression, most of which having claimed their profession contributed to their anxiety or depression.

Even though more than half of those surveyed reported that they have experienced burnout, and 6% admitted suffering suicidal thoughts, physicians are not seeking help. Despite 51% reporting that their workload had impacted their mental health, only 17% of physicians surveyed said they have met with a mental health professional, and even less (16%) have considered it. 67% said they have never met with a mental health professional. One reason for this could be explained by another finding of the study: more than half of physicians (53%) agreed that mental health is a taboo issue.

There is hope, however. Last year, the AMA announced they were adopting a new policy aimed at improving physician and medical student access to mental health care. The new policy is structured around helping reduce stigma associated with mental health illness that could unfairly impact a physician’s ability to obtain a medical license and impede physicians and medical students from receiving care. Additionally, the AMA’s Steps Forward Program, part of their Professional Satisfaction and Practice Sustainability initiative, which launched in 2011, is a resource designed to improve the health and well-being of patients by improving the health and well-being of physicians and their practices through a series of practice transformation modules.

Most physicians build their careers around saving lives, or at the very least, improving them. That needs to apply to themselves, as well. If you are a physician who is experiencing burn out, we encourage you to consider looking into the Steps Forward Program further, as well as seeking appropriate mental health care. Your lives, and the lives of your patients, depend on it.

To explore mental health resources available to you, please visit https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/find-help/index.shtml.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

We Have to Recognize Doctors’ Time Is a Limited Resource

There are only 24 hours in the day, and even less in a physician’s workday. What are the solutions to caring for those who care for the masses?

from Becker’s Hospital Review

There are about one million doctors in the U.S. today. There are 24 hours in a day, I’ve been told. The average physician works for close to nine of those hours. So there are nine million hours available in a day to provide medical care to America’s 325 million people. That’s if a physician is not whittling down those nine hours by taking on tasks not directly related to care, like working out insurance paperwork, and the rest.

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Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Summer Reading for the Stressed Out Healthcare Practitioner

There is no time like the present to start practicing self care, and Debut A New You, a new book by Mimi Secor, is a fantastic place to begin.

Are you tired of feeling unhealthy, stressed out, overwhelmed, but you don’t know where to start? Well, guess what? In my NEW #1 International Best-Selling book, Debut a New You: Transforming Your Life at Any Age, I teach you how to change your life, become healthier, build your confidence and become more successful than you ever imagined possible.

As a nurse practitioner for the past 41 years I know what it’s like to be stressed out and unhealthy while meeting everyone else’s needs. But you can’t serve from an empty vessel. It’s time for you to become healthy so you can be a role model for your patients, family and community and, most of all feel, good about yourself. That’s powerful medicine. So, join me as I challenge you to jumpstart your health and new life TODAY.

To order my book, just go to DebutANewYou.com. Join my mail list by texting “DrMimi” to 36260.

Dr. Mimi Secor is a board certified Family Nurse Practitioner specializing in Women’s Health for 36 years and is a popular National Speaker and Consultant, educating advanced practice clinicians and consumers around the country and the world.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

A “Well-regulated Militia”: Can Doctors Prevent Gun Violence?

Family physicians have long recognized that gun violence is a national public health epidemic. Do they also hold the key to stopping it?

from Common Sense Family Doctor

Family physicians have long recognized that gun violence is a national public health epidemic. In 2015, a coalition of nine medical, public health, and legal organizations, including the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Bar Association, endorsed several specific recommendations for preventing firearm-related injury and death. These measures included universal criminal background checks for all firearm purchases; educating patients about gun safety and intervening in those at risk of self-harm or harm to others; improving access to mental health care; regulating civilian use of firearms with large capacity magazines; and supporting more research on evidence-based policies to prevent gun violence. A 2014 editorial in American Family Physician also reviewed the role of primary care clinicians in counseling about gun safety based on the best available evidence.

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Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Are Doctors Bribed by Pharma? An Analysis of Data.

An in-depth look at a recent paper that explores correlational data relating opioid prescribing to opioid manufacturer payments.

from The Health Care Blog

Association studies that draw correlations between drug company-provided meals and physician prescribing behavior have become a favorite genre among advocates of greater separation between drug manufacturers and physicians. Recent studies have demonstrated correlations between acceptance of drug manufacturer payments and undesirable physician behaviors, such as increased prescription of promoted drugs. The authors of such articles are usually careful to avoid making direct claims of a cause-effect relationship since their observations are based on correlation alone. Nonetheless, such a relationship is often implied by conjecture. Further, the large number of publications in high profile journals on this subject can only be justified by concerns that such a cause-and-effect relationship exists and is widespread and nefarious. In this article, we will examine a recent paper by Hadland et al. which explores correlational data relating opioid prescribing to opioid manufacturer payments and in which the authors imply the existence of a cause-and-effect relationship.

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Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.