---
title: Physician Burnout and Healthcare Quality - a Chicken and Egg Conundrum
description: Physician Burnout and Healthcare Quality are another example of a Chicken and Egg Conundrum. They effect and reinforce each other both on the up and down side
image: https://www.thehappymd.com/hubfs/images/2019%20IMAGES/2019%20BLOG%20IMAGES/physician-burnout-quality-of-care-chicken-and-egg-OPT150W.jpg
---

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## **The Creative Destruction of Physician Burnout **

[![prevent doctor burnout matrix](https://hubspot-no-cache-na2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/default/263814/da1e787d-095f-4485-9d4d-9a9bc4195d86.png)](https://hubspot-cta-redirect-na2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/redirect/263814/da1e787d-095f-4485-9d4d-9a9bc4195d86)

# [Physician Burnout and Healthcare Quality - a Chicken and Egg Conundrum](https://www.thehappymd.com/blog/physician-burnout-and-healthcare-quality-a-chicken-and-egg-conundrum)

Posted by [Dike Drummond MD](https://www.thehappymd.com/blog/author/dike-drummond-md)

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## **[![physician-burnout-quality-of-care-chicken-and-egg-OPT150W](https://www.thehappymd.com/hs-fs/hubfs/images/2019%20IMAGES/2019%20BLOG%20IMAGES/physician-burnout-quality-of-care-chicken-and-egg-OPT150W.jpg?width=150&name=physician-burnout-quality-of-care-chicken-and-egg-OPT150W.jpg)](https://support.thehappymd.com/quadruple-aim-physician-leadership-retreat-2020)There is plenty of evidence that [Physician Burnout](https://www.thehappymd.com/blog/bid/295048/physician-burnout-why-its-not-a-fair-fight) has a negative effect on a doctor's quality of care**

**Make's sense, right?**

If you are a physician who is

- exhausted
- cynical and sarcastic
- and doubting that your work is making a difference

- BTW, these are the [three cardinal symptoms of burnout](https://www.thehappymd.com/blog/bid/290736/burnout-symptoms-in-physicians-are-different-in-men-and-women) -   
If that is the way you are feeling today at work, you care clearly not on your "A" Game as a clinician and healer ... right? Oh yes, and in the average healthcare workplace, 50% of the doctors are suffering from at least one symptom of burnout on each practice day.**The question for physician leaders is a simple WHY?**

**Why are so many of your doctors burned out?

**

[![Quad Aim Physician Leader Retreat](https://hubspot-no-cache-na2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/default/263814/883fdfee-358c-4412-94ae-5a18cc044685.png)](https://hubspot-cta-redirect-na2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/cta/redirect/263814/883fdfee-358c-4412-94ae-5a18cc044685)

**  
Please don't doubt their Resilience.**

Physicians are some of the [most resilient people on the planet](https://www.thehappymd.com/blog/physician-resilience-a-stronger-canary-is-never-enough). We survived residency for heaven's sake. That should be all the evidence you need of our ability to take a lickin' and keep on tickin'.

- **We are some pretty tough CANARIES. **
- **What is it about [your COAL MINE](https://www.thehappymd.com/blog/bid/285686/are-physicians-the-canary-in-the-coal-mine-of-medicine) that is taking us down?**

**Yes, burned out doctors provide lower quality care. **  
And I invite you to dig a little deeper. Notice that the doctor's level of stress and burnout and the quality of their care are in **a reciprocal relationship.**

The burnout - quality of care link is actually **a CHICKEN AND THE EGG CONUNDRUM.**

*==========  
This is Blog Post #310  
Complete Blog Library  [is Here  
](https://www.thehappymd.com/blog/all)==========*

**Which of these comes first?  
**

****

**LOOP ONE:**  
**If you are Burned Out ... it has an effect on the quality of care you deliver**

This loop is well understood, well documented in the existing quality literature and being actively studied.

**RETURN LOOP:**  
**If you are locked in a system that destroys your ability to offer the highest quality care   
... that causes physician frustration and burnout**

THIS LOOP is NOT being studied or looked into in any detail. It is one of the elephants in the room whenever I talk about burnout with senior physician leaders.

Now that the majority of US physicians are employees, healthcare leaders everywhere need to understand this return loop -- where poor quality drives physician burnout -- as a key cause of physician stress.

**If the doctor does not control their practice  
- and the employer's systems of care prevent an adequate level of quality - physician burnout and turnover is the result.**

Every healthcare delivery system has some combination of the following - these are some of the major causes of Physician Burnout:

- Inefficient patient flow and scheduling systems inside your organization
- [Understaffing in the back office](https://www.thehappymd.com/blog/electronic-medical-records-physician-burnout-team-based-care) - *not enough hands on deck*
- The well documented [overwhelm of EMR](https://www.thehappymd.com/blog/physician-burnout-emr-ehr-keystrokes-silly-documentation-overload) and other digital tasks
- The blizzard of quality indicators and payor rules and denial of treatment authorizations

============

**Which begs these questions ... **

- What is it about your workplace that interferes with providing the highest quality care to your patients?
- How stressful is this quality of care blockage to you?
- When you raise your quality concerns, what reaction do you get from your leadership team?
- Have you ever quit a job because of an avoidable quality issue - something your employer simply would not address?
- If yes, what was the issue and what reasoning did your employer give for not addressing it.

**PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT **with your answers**  
**Or if you are concerned about confidentiality, [Use This Form](https://www.thehappymd.com/contact) to contact me directly

============

 Tags: [Physician Burnout](https://www.thehappymd.com/blog/topic/physician-burnout)

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