Oncologist Taps Wellness Benefit to Prevent Burnout

Dr. Flora courtesy of the Cincinnati Business Courier

Doug Flora, a successful oncologist, husband and father, describes his life as “professionally successful but time-bankrupt.”

For the last 20 years, Dr. Flora’s personal life has taken a backseat to his patients.

“I’m at an 80-hour-a-week job that I have to fit into 60 hours, so my traditional default is: Ignore everything but work,” he said.

But thanks to a unique wellness benefit offered by Dr. Flora’s employer, St. Elizabeth Physicians, his life has become much more manageable.

The practice began offering concierge services to its physicians and advanced practitioners as part of a larger effort to maximize provider well-being.

“The concierges are like close colleagues who are imminently available to make my life manageable,” Dr. Flora said.

Value on Investment

Dr. Robert Prichard, chief executive officer for St. Elizabeth Physicians (SEP), partnered with the company Best Upon Request (BEST) to provide full-time concierge services to the multi-specialty group after a committee of physician leaders began looking for new and innovative solutions to increase physician well-being and reduce turnover.

“The concierge service is such a small investment when you think of it on a per physician, per provider basis. And if it keeps one doc from leaving, it’s probably paid for itself.” Dr. Prichard said.

 

Testimonial from a physician about how Best Upon Request's concierge services reduce stress and increase wellbeing. "The concierge benefit is more valuable than any other single thing my group has offered for physician wellbeing."

Wellbeing Benefits Trend

Healthcare organizations have added new wellness benefits for physicians in the past few years to reduce provider stress and prevent burnout.

Burnout costs the healthcare industry $4.6 billion annually. Many say it is the biggest public health crisis facing the U.S., next to COVID-19, as physician burnout is also associated with lower-quality patient care, increased medical errors and poorer patient outcomes.

This has leaders like Dr. Prichard asking, “How can we take better care of ourselves so we can take better care of our patients?”

For St. Elizabeth Physicians, the answer was investing in highly targeted benefits with a proven track record of success.

The concierge perk reduces friction between physicians’ personal and professional lives by serving as a resource to offload common time-sucks like household responsibilities, personal tasks and errands.

Dr. Flora, who describes his life as “professionally successful but time-bankrupt,” said that even simple things like buying a birthday present for his wife have proven overwhelming.

“My choice is to see the dying cancer patient or get the gift for my wife, and my wife always loses,” he said. This is precisely the type of work-life friction the concierge service seeks to solve.

Outcomes

Undoubtedly, the concierge team is making life smoother for St. Elizabeth’s physicians who save 30 hours a year on average by outsourcing their to-dos to BEST.

The well-being benefit has reduced stress for 99% of users, and 97% feel the concierge service has improved their focus on work-related tasks.

User feedback revealed the perk makes physicians feel valued; as a result, SEP’s engagement rate increased by 10 percentage points within the first year of offering the service.

Customer feedback showed that most physicians invest extra free time into their families and direct patient care.

This year Dr. Flora’s wife finally got the gift she deserved. Veronica, a concierge team member, sourced some hard-to-find items for a customized gift basket. She assembled and styled the basket and then delivered it straight to Dr. Flora’s office.

“In my new life, I have a concierge to take care of the things I used to sacrifice in my personal life, and my life is better for it,” he said.