The definition and statistics defining stress-related work events and burnout among medical professionals continues. The World Health Organization (WHO) has updated the definition for burnout as defined in the recently released ICD-11 Classification of Diseases – “Burn-out is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed,” ICD-11 code QD85 | Burn-out.
Although WHO did not classify burnout as a “medical condition”, defining burnout to include the term ‘syndrome’ shows the growing concern for the state of health and well-being among physicians, nurses and healthcare workers. While ICD-10 did include the condition of burnout, the WHO merely defined it as a "state of vital exhaustion", ICD-10 code Z73.0 | Burn-out - State of vital exhaustion. The new definition elevates and validates the condition suffered by many healthcare professionals. Burnout does not affect one member of the team in isolation, but the burnout of one worker affects the entire team.
Some studies state as many as 50% of physicians report suffering some symptom of burnout and the cost to the healthcare industry is reported to be between $2.6 billion and $6.3 billion each year or, averages as much as $4.6B annually. (Reported by the Annals of Internal Medicine). “Nurse burnout costs an additional $9 billion for hospitals annually and costs the entire healthcare system $14 billion each year.” (Reported by Healthcare Dive).
Although difficult to quantify, physician turnover, early retirement, and reduced work hours are some of the reasons for the cost. However, the primary problem is from the physical environment – the electronic health record (EHR) and, the risk to healthcare and health of individuals is well documented. Increase in medical errors, decrease in quality of care with potential for patient harm, and emotional exhaustion as well as, eroding the physician’s sense of worth, career purpose, and in some cases physician suicide is the result.
Take-aways
With the recognition and upgrade to classify Burnout as a syndrome in the ICD-11 Classification of Diseases, efforts to support and treat our medical practitioners will surely gain the respect everyone deserves.
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