Direct Primary Care Statistics of the Week

Posted on by

I wanted to share some numbers from a recent survey and show how Direct Primary Care solves the issues. The article is called Why Have All the Doctors Gone? Insights Into Early Clinical Departure Among Physicians in the United States: A National Survey. This was the conclusion:

Among the 971 respondents included in the analysis, the majority (63.9%) identified as women, the mean age was 45.8 years, and 11.0% had never practiced after graduate medical education. The physicians who left practice reported “hassle factor” (44.7%) and “too stressful” (44.5%) as prime motivators for their departure. Physicians who were women were more likely than men to have exited due to needing to care for family members (7.9% vs 0.6%, P < .001) or children (21.3% vs 4.2%, P < .001). The mean age of physicians who left clinical practice was 48.1 years, 9 years younger than observed in a similar cohort in 2008.

Even better, here is the chart in the study:

You can go through the full list and see how DPC can actually alleviate almost ALL of these issues. Hassle? Goes down. Stressful? Goes down. Patient demands, professional satisfaction, care for young children? All can be dealt with by doing DPC. But what do the authors think? Here are some of their thoughts:

  •  Although literature on interventions to reduce burnout has grown, the search continues for actionable solutions to the drivers of burnout.
  • Normalizing the expectation that physicians take time away from work and implementing policies and procedures that eliminate barriers to taking the time away involves a cultural shift for which organizations can strive.
  • In addition, organizations can build scheduling models that allow for flexible scheduling without penalties. Interventions to improve physician influence over their work environment (eg, flexible or customizable work schedules) can positively affect physician well-being, and enabling physicians to have more control over their schedules can make a big difference in physicians’ work–life balance.
  • Ensuring physicians are equipped with the right job resources for patient care, have team support (eg, triaging patient requests), and have adequate time for managing messages can help mitigate stress associated with managing patient demands.
  • Organizations that tap into this sense of purpose and meaningfully empower physicians with control over aspects of their patient care can improve the environment for physicians.

Yeah, they still don’t get it. Leaving the system that created the problem is the only hope for physicians to continue their careers instead of quitting, retiring, or doing something else. We should never listen to the same idiots who created the problem who now want to fix the problem.

Someday there may be an article that asks, “Where have all the doctors gone?” and hopefully the answer will be DIRECT CARE!!

3

About Douglas Farrago, MD

Dr. Farrago is a retired family physician based in Forest, Virginia. Since 2021, he has run DPCnews.com, a leading resource for the Direct Primary Care (DPC) movement. He is the author of three best-selling books on Direct Primary Care: The Official Guide to Starting Your Own Direct Primary Care Practice The Direct Primary Care Doctor’s Daily Motivational Journal Slowing the Churn in Direct Primary Care (While Also Keeping Your Sanity) In 2016, Dr. Farrago conceived the idea for the Direct Primary Care Alliance and co-founded the organization alongside other pioneering DPC physicians. He is widely recognized as a leading expert in the DPC model and frequently lectures to medical students, residents, and practicing physicians on how to successfully start and run their own DPC practices.Dr. Farrago sold his Direct Primary Care practice in October 2020 but continues to receive care there as a patient.