How much do hospitalists earn from extra shifts?

How much do hospitalists earn from extra shifts?

Physician career news and resources

February 2024
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March 27, 2024

How much do hospitalists earn from extra shifts?

compensation-extra-shiftsAccording to data from the 2023 Today’s Hospitalist Compensation & Career Survey, hospitalists who treat adults and who received any compensation from extra shifts got 11.4% of their total pay from working those additional hours. That number was slightly higher for nonacademic hospitalists, doctors working for local hospitalist groups and hospitalists in the Midwest. For more details on pay from working extra shifts, see the online coverage of Today’s Hospitalist’s survey results.

What does the term “professionalism” really mean for doctors?

While the concept of medical professionalism looms large among physicians, the term can be so vague—and sometimes so arbitrary—that it can be difficult, if not impossible, for some physicians to achieve. A New York Times article that looked at the concept of professionalism said the definition can range from lofty, ethical standards of behavior to prohibitions against actions like hugging a program director or wearing braided hair. The article noted that residents of color are often disciplined for being unprofessional more frequently than their White peers, possibly because the way they look and speak—their very essence—is deemed unprofessional. The article also pointed out what’s considered professionalism may be changing. When a 2020 study on professionalism scoured through social media postings of 500 surgery trainees and rated pictures of physicians in swimsuits as “unprofessional,” critics said the researchers had reduced professionalism to superficial attributes instead of ethical behavior. In protest, a female resident posted a picture of herself on Twitter wearing a bikini top and shorts with the hashtag #MedBikini. She included text that said, “I’ll say it. I wear bikinis. I am going to be a doctor.” Within a day, her post had gone viral and the paper had been retracted.

March 21, 2024

As physicians use AI tools, questions emerge

AI-tools-physiciansAs physicians begin to embrace AI tools for tasks like responding to patient queries and documenting exams, clinicians are confronting issues of disclosure, accuracy and privacy. A MedPage Today report said that physicians are being forced to decide whether to disclose to patients when replies and documentation has been produced by AI and reviewed by a clinician. Many AI platforms automatically include a line of text noting that the document was produced with the help of technology, but physicians can choose to delete that acknowledgement. Physicians also have to worry about “hallucinations” that pop up in AI-generated content making their way into the medical records. One example occurred when a physician told a patient it was good that she didn’t have an allergy to sulfa drugs. An AI tool generated a note that said, “Allergies: sulfa.” A final concern is patient privacy, particularly for physicians who are recording patient exams to be transcribed by AI. The worry is that those patient data could be sold or stolen by the technology company providing the AI tools.

How are hospitalist bonuses calculated?

Our survey data show that hospitalists average about $40,000 in bonuses per year, but how are those bonuses calculated? Just under half of hospitalists said that their bonuses are based on a combination of group and individual performance, and nearly three-quarters said their bonuses are tied to quality measures like patient safety and documentation. For more data on hospitalist bonuses, see Today’s Hospitalist online coverage.

March 6, 2024

Women in health care report higher levels of burnout than men

A new study has found that women in health care suffer “a significantly higher level of stress and burnout” than their male counterparts. A literature review in Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health said factors like gender inequity in the workplace, poor work-life balance and a lack of autonomy were correlated with increased burnout. An article in Healthcare Dive reported that the study also found that flexible schedules and employee recognition programs helped reduce stress for females working in health care. The data came out at about the same time as survey results from Athena Health, which found that 93% of U.S. physicians regularly feel burned out and 56% might leave medicine or move into non-patient-care roles. Physicians in that survey reported that they regularly work 15 hours a week more than what they consider “normal” hours. One wrinkle to come out of that survey, however, was that 83% of physicians thought that advances in AI could reduce the administrative burdens they face, helping lower their workplace stress.

A look at nocturnist pay, workload and more

What do average nocturnists working in U.S. hospitals earn, how many shifts a month do they work and how many patient encounters do they have a shift? According to data from the 2023 Today’s Hospitalist Compensation & Career Survey, nocturnists do earn more money than their colleagues who work days, but the difference in pay—and other factors like hours—isn’t always as pronounced as you might think. For more, see data from Today’s Hospitalist survey.

February 22, 2024

How shift type and length affect hospitalist pay

In the 2023 Today’s Hospitalist Compensation & Career Survey, we asked hospitalists to tell us how their pay is affected by several factors, including the type of shifts they work, the length of those shifts and whether they work full or part time. For a look at how hospitalists working seven-on/seven-off compare to their colleagues working other types of shifts and more, see Today’s Hospitalists’ online coverage.

Nursing workforce shows signs of rebounding

With so much bad news about health care staffing going around, hospitalists might be glad to hear that nursing workforce numbers appear to be on the rebound. A new study in JAMA Health Forum predicted that the nursing workforce is expected to grow to about 4.5 million by 2035, a number that is close to prepandemic levels. Nurses between the ages of 35 and 49 are expected to account for much of that growth, going from 38% of the nursing workforce in 2022 to 47% in 2035. A MedPage Today report said the study also found rapid growth in the following areas: advanced practice registered nurses (18.2%), male nurses (14.1%), RNs working in non-hospital settings (12.8%) and unmarried nurses (7.4%). The study also found that the number of U.S.-trained students sitting for the licensure exam grew from 154,000 in 2016 to 185,000 in 2021.


For physician news from 2023 and earlier, click here


 

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