HJNO May/Jun 2022

52 MAY / JUN 2022 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS MEDICAL SOCIETY COLUMN MEDICAL SOCIETY POST-COVID PHYSICIAN RECOVERY: A Priority for the Medical Association of Southeast Louisiana PHYSICIANS, like other clinicians, have been dedicated to the diagnosis, treat- ment, and care of an onslaught of patients suffering from COVID-19 for more than two years. Much has and will be written for years about the devastating impact of COVID on our healthcare infrastruc- ture and systems. Even more important- ly is the toll that COVID has taken on human beings — healthcare profession- als and the patients they cared for who lived and those who didn’t make it. This stressful reality and ripple effect can be felt on our families and our communi- ties throughout Southeast Louisiana. COVID added insult to injury, as is said, to the already rising rates of physician burnout. Prior to the pandemic, accord- ing to the Physicians Foundation, which conducts an annual survey of physi- cians across the nation, in 2018, “40% of physicians often or always experienced feelings of burnout.” That percentage grew to 58% of physicians respond- ing to the Physicians Foundation 2020 survey and is conceivably higher now. Another recent study by Mayo Foun- dation for Medical Education and Re- search reported, “One in 5 physicians and 2 in 5 nurses intend to leave their practice altogether in the next two years.” This will have a dramatic impact on the landscape of healthcare. We cannot pro- duce a new crop of physicians overnight. The Medical Association of South- east Louisiana (MASELA) is concerned about how burnout, moral injury as it is often called, and suicide are impacting our physician workforce of the future. We are concerned about the causes of burnout and the implications of burnout on our physician community currently. The causes of burnout are many. They stem from myriad regulations and legal requirements with which physicians must comply. The challenges of adopting tech- nology and negotiating payor and em- ployment contracts are significant. And, at a time when many physicians through- out Southeast Louisiana are employed, physicians want to know that their voic-