Table 2. Examples of physician-suggested changes to improve physician wellness in the workplace.
| Resources | |
| Staffing | ∙ Allocation of more clinical and administrative support personnel to enable physicians to maximize their time |
| ∙ Consideration of different staffing models for more end of day predictability | |
| ∙ Expansion of staffing to match work volume | |
| Inefficiencies | ∙ Analysis of basic processes and infrastructure with subsequent efficiency improvements |
| ∙ Documentation assistance, for example through the use of scribes | |
| ∙ Enhancement of user-friendliness of the electronic medical record | |
| Financial support | ∙ Support for clinical work: responsiveness to physician requests for the resources that would facilitate improved patient care |
| ∙ Support for academic work: uniform policy for travel funds to national meetings, to present research | |
| Leadership/communication | |
| Goal alignment | ∙ Unified vision from the leadership of the Hospitals, the School of Medicine, and the Departments that reflects the importance of physicians taking care of themselves in order to be better be able to fulfill their roles |
| ∙ Ensuring that a diverse cross-section of faculty be part of strategic planning | |
| ∙ Increasing the number of physicians in leadership roles | |
| ∙ Creating clear career pathways and encouraging individuals to pursue their strengths | |
| ∙ Alignment of hospital initiatives with academic ones, so that what facilitates clinical and academic promotion is congruent | |
| Communication | ∙ Increased and effective communication with, and involvement by, faculty in discussion and decisions regarding time commitments and expectations |
| ∙ Effective leadership and support, for example by active and effective mentoring of junior faculty, together with a proactive approach regarding appointments and promotions | |
| ∙ Commitment to clarity and transparency with respect to availability of resources | |
| Control over the work-environment | |
| Control | ∙ Providing a greater degree of control over physicians’ own schedules |
| ∙ Increased control over the immediate clinic operations with the ability to participate in decisions, in real time | |
| Autonomy | ∙ Increased autonomy by enabling physicians to have more of a say in how they run their practice |
| Performance metrics | ∙ Use of appropriate professional performance metrics that directly evaluate the work of the physician |
| Connection/community | |
| Collegiality | ∙ Enhancement of social support in the work place, to further the role of the medical as a valuable tool for maintaining wellness through positive interactions, feedback, and encouragement |
| Mentoring | ∙ Increasing proactive, meaningful mentorship |
| ∙ Providing dedicated, protected time for mentoring | |
| ∙ Coaching to facilitate good mentoring and support of others—especially junior colleagues | |
| ∙ Team building | |
| Diversity | ∙ Creation of and ongoing support for an inclusive environment/culture that embraces diversity |
| ∙ Consciousness of gender balance among decision makers and those appointed to role model functions | |
| Work environment | |
| Work culture | ∙ Implementing opportunities for physicians to share their experience, to take advantage of the empowering nature of such interactions |
| Facilities | ∙ Break rooms and facilities within easy access |
| ∙ Protected and adequate physician space to eat and rest | |
| ∙ Ready availability of healthy food options, such as a free salad bar | |
| Wellness | ∙ Ensuring that interactions such as focus groups can occur during the work day and need not come at a cost of personal time |
| ∙ Prioritization by leadership of making physician wellness part of every part of the day | |
| ∙ Fostering an understanding that wellness is in the best interest of an institution and ultimately will increase productivity and creativity | |
| ∙ Creating credibility of intent through visibility, by leadership bringing up the topic of wellness in meetings, by departmental wellness committees that survey faculty and staff to implement wellness activities, and prioritizing time for wellness and identifying space towards wellness activities | |
| ∙ Providing a central source to access wellness options online, and a way to filter the things which are pertinent to oneself | |
| ∙ Development of concrete programs that are easily accessible to physicians in different locations. | |
| ∙ Dedicated time for wellness | |
| ∙ A state of the art physician wellness center that has a meditation/reflection room | |
| ∙ Exercise spaces | |
| ∙ Discounts at gyms | |
| ∙ Paid time off to attend a wellness activity or retreat | |
| ∙ Incentivize physicians to participate in wellness programs to make them understand the potential benefits at a personal level | |
| ∙ Utilization of examples from private industry, illustrating the benefits of improving employee wellness | |
| ∙ Reduction of the number of lunch-time meetings | |
| Appreciation | ∙ Recognition of achievements of faculty in the academic as well as in the clinical realm |
| ∙ Making physicians feel that they are a priority and are being taken care of by providing benefits such as free parking, occasional complimentary breakfast, acknowledging good work, having social gatherings that are designed just for colleagues to interact | |
| ∙ Tokens of appreciation such as a pass to local gyms or a percentage of a health club membership, tickets, lunches, or vouchers for hospital meals when on call | |
| ∙ Balancing performance improvement feedback with positive feedback regarding all the things physicians are already doing | |
| ∙ More acknowledgement of individual efforts, strengths, and creating visibility of accomplishments in patient care, research, teaching/mentoring, and administration | |
| ∙ Vouchers for child care when child care such as the regular nanny or daycare is not available | |
| Work-life integration resources | |
| Remuneration | ∙ Fair compensation and housing benefits; this affects how physicians can take care of themselves, their families, and their future |
| Child care | ∙ Provision of practically available, on-site child care, with day care hours in line with physicians’ schedules |
| ∙ Optimized leave policies for young parents | |
| ∙ Free on-site back-up childcare | |
| ∙ Alignment of holidays for the Hospitals and the School of Medicine to minimize child care issues | |
| ∙ Scheduling of meetings with an eight-to-five meeting template | |
| Home life | ∙ Food services, laundry, dry cleaning and other domestic conveniences on site to facilitate work-life integration |
| Opportunity for all physicians to earn credits towards home life assistance such as cleaning services and meal delivery* | |
Notes.
*
Reference: Valantine & Sandborg, 2013.