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Quality of Work Life of Independent vs Employed Family Physicians in Wisconsin: A WReN Study

¹ Department of Family Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis
² Department of Industrial Engineering, and Systems Engineering Initiative in Patient Safety (SEIPS), University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis
³ Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis
⁴ Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Ga

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: John W. Beasley, MD, Department of Family Medicine, University of Wisconsin, 777 S Mills St, Madison, WI 53521, john.beasley{at}fammed.wisc.edu

PURPOSE Family physicians in Wisconsin who are mainly employed by large health care organizations have voiced concerns regarding the quality of their work lives. We explored the quality of work life and its relationship to employment by health care organizations.

METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional survey of the 1,482 active members of the Wisconsin Academy of Family Physicians in 2000.

RESULTS A 47% overall response rate was obtained, and 584 respondents could be identified as independent or employed by a health care organization. There were no differences in age or sex between the 2 groups. The independent physicians worked longer hours, were in smaller work groups, and had been in practice longer and in their current practice longer than the employed physicians. Independent physicians reported better working relationships, more satisfaction with family time, more influence over management decisions, better satisfaction with being a physician, better perceived quality of the care they provided, greater ability to achieve professional goals, and lesser intention to leave the practice.

CONCLUSIONS Independent physicians have significantly more positive ratings of several aspects of the quality of their work life compared with physicians employed by health care organizations. Health care organizations need to address these issues if they are to have a satisfied and stable workforce.

Key Words: Physicians, family • job satisfaction • primary care • health care economics and organizations • managed care programs • health care delivery/health services research • practice-based research

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