Doctors leave clinical practice for a variety of reasons. Retirement is generally a primary reason, but working conditions and insurance bureaucracy also plays a role. The following is from HealthLeaders Media:
A 2023 study published in JAMA found that large numbers of doctors now hope to leave clinical practice. Of the nearly 19,000 physicians surveyed, “approximately one-third reported moderate or greater intention to leave.” Burnout and lack of professional fulfillment appeared particularly likely to spur that intention. Among specialists, anesthesiologists, pulmonologists, and ER doctors reported high levels of burnout. According to one report, more than 70,000 physicians — over 6 percent of the country’s physicians — left medicine just between 2021 and 2022. For doctors seeking to enter other industries, there are lots of options, including biotech, consulting, venture capital, medical devices, and pharmaceutical companies. Some even join insurance companies, evaluating the claims that come in from clinicians.
A dozen years ago about 3.5% of physicians left clinical practice each year. A few years later this proportion increased by 40% to 4.9% annually. The following is from Medscape Medical News:
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Female physicians had a higher risk of leaving clinical practice than male physicians (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.44; 95% CI, 1.43-1.46), as did those practicing in rural vs urban areas (aHR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.17-1.21).
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Physicians practicing psychiatry, primary care, or obstetrics and gynecology had elevated risk for exit; after adjusting for physician and patient factors, hospital-based physicians had the highest risk of leaving practice.
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The risk for exit was significantly elevated in physicians caring for older or high-risk patients, or a greater percentage of patients eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid.
Oddly enough, the above factors do not appear to be related to aging and retirement. Rather, they correlate more closely with poor working conditions, higher stress patients, and lower compensation. Much of this is simply physician burnout.
The physician workforce is turning gray. An analysis of physicians’ age published in Beckers Hospital Review illustrates the problem. Of 23 physician specialties analyzed, the average age of physicians was upper 50s for about half (upper 40s for the other half). Many physicians were born among the cohort of the 70 million Baby Boomers, the youngest of which turned 60 last year. Most will retire in the next few years if they are not already retired. While some doctors may wish to work part time and ease into retirement, they often find the modern working conditions unaccommodating. A doctor in my family decided to retire recently. He asked about perhaps working part time a day or two a week. His manager informed him that he would still need to attend all the same meetings as he did when working full-time. He replied, “no thanks.” The plethora of meetings were partly why he wanted to quit in the first place.
There will likely be an exodus of physicians in the next few years as older physicians grow weary of the health care bureaucracy and decide it is time to retire. Replacing them will be difficult.
Read more at: Increase in Physicians Walking Away From Clinical Practice