Article Figures & Data
Tables
Additional Files
Supplemental Table
Supplemental Table
Files in this Data Supplement:
- Supplemental data: Table - PDF file
The Article in Brief
Practice Capacity to Address Patients' Social Needs and Physician Satisfaction and Perceived Quality of Care
Matthew S. Pantell , and colleagues
Background Recent research suggests that addressing patients' social circumstances can not only benefit patients and reduce health care costs; it might also decrease clinicians' symptoms of burnout. The current study explores that possibility on a larger scale. Using a large health policy survey, researchers explore associations between clinic capacity to address patients' social and economic needs and physician job satisfaction, stress, and perception of medical care quality.
What This Study Found Primary care physicians who practice in a setting prepared to manage patients with social needs have significantly higher job satisfaction than other physicians. Among 890 US physicians responding to the Commonwealth Fund's 2015 International Health Policy Survey of Primary Care Doctors, those who reported working in a practice able to manage patients' social needs had significantly higher job satisfaction, were more satisfied with amount of time spent with patients, and thought that the quality of medical care patients receive had improved. Feeling that it was easy to coordinate patients' care with social services or other community resources was also significantly associated with higher job satisfaction, personal and relative income satisfaction, satisfaction with amount of time spent with patients, and outlook on patients' quality of medical care.
Implications
- The authors call on health systems to include clinician satisfaction, which is closely tied to issues of burnout and retention, in their calculations of the costs and benefits of responding to patients' social needs.