Private radiology practices not immune to burnout—up to one-third of leaders impacted
Up to 33% of private practice radiology leaders report feeling burned out by their careers.
While there is no shortage of research linking the nature of a radiologists’ day-to-day duties to higher susceptibility to burnout, data pertaining to radiology private practice leaders and/or owners are lacking. This is what led the authors of a new analysis published in Clinical Imaging to examine the prevalence of burnout among some of the field’s professional leaders in the private sector.
"No studies have specifically investigated burnout of radiology leaders within other practice models,” corresponding author Jay R. Parikh, from the Division of Diagnostic Imaging at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and co-authors shared. “Burnout of physician leadership in radiology may have significant impact on both the practice and the wellness of radiologists.”
Their investigation centered on leaders at 30 private practices within the organization Strategic Radiology—the largest coalition of wholly radiologist owned, independently practicing radiology groups in the United States. The leaders answered questions from the Stanford Professional Fulfillment Index, in addition to providing responses on personal and practice demographics and self-care.
While the overall burnout rate was reported to be 33%, the fulfillment rate was 43% among the leaders. The most commonly cited factor fueling burnout was difficulty managing stress.
The authors suggested that, although private practice radiology leaders are granted with a great deal of autonomy, managing a practice presents additional stressors that staff radiologists within hospital systems are not burdened with:
Private practice radiology leaders uniquely must manage a business that demands meticulous administrative duties in addition to routine clinical practice responsibilities. Radiologist compensation is not guaranteed but dependent on adequate contracts, imaging volume, efficiency of practice, clinical productivity, and meticulous business leadership.”
Additionally, the authors indicated that private practice groups might be limited in their ability to compete with hospital-based practices when it comes to recruitment, margins and staying up to date with providing the latest technologies to their staff and patients. All of these, the experts noted, could contribute to physician burnout.
So what is a practice to do when the leaders tasked with mitigating burnout among their staff members are plagued by burnout themselves?
According to the responses of the survey, having designated administrative leadership to offset stress, sufficient staffing and variable shifts have been effective in the practices.
For more of the insight gained from the survey, including additional burnout mitigation tactics, click here.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She joined Innovate Healthcare in 2021 and has since put her unique expertise to use in her editorial role with Health Imaging.