An Empirical Investigation of Factors Influencing Career Satisfaction of Primary Care Physicians

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study was to examine factors that influence career satisfaction of 3 types of primary care physicians (PCPs): internal medicine (IM) physicians, family/general medicine (FGM) physicians, and pediatricians.Methods

This Issue: International Issues, Infectious Diseases, Medical Liability, and Medical Home Ideas

“…Care is always a good watchword, but extra caution when dealing with these potential diagnoses is warranted. An interesting finding from this article, and the one that plays into physicians' fears about malpractice, 9 is that the second most common type of claim-with the lowest rate of payout-was one in which no medical misadventure was claimed.…”

“…Other than the malpractice difference, there are substantial similarities between the two studies. Overall, Deshpande et al 9 was unable to determine the majority of the factors related to satisfaction of primary care physicians. One interesting finding was that owning one's own practice was associated with lower satisfaction for general internists and pediatricians, but not family physicians-we suspect the emphasis on practice management in family medicine residencies (and journals) has been helpful.…”

Impact of payment methods on professional equity of physicians

“…Key sources of motivation for physicians are professional autonomy [5,35] , achievement [6] , relationships with patients [4] , and interaction with colleagues [6,36] . Motivation of physicians is affected by both financial and non-financial incentives which should be considered together for long term results [36,37] .…”

“…Health care professionals are motivated by both extrinsic and intrinsic factors [2] . Physicians do not automatically respond to financial incentive schemes [3] -an extrinsic factor-as they are influenced considerably more by intrinsic factors of medical practice, such as interaction with patients [4] , professional autonomy [5] and achievement [6] . Consequently, complex motivational sources among physicians need to be understood.…”

“…Alternative payment plans (APPs)-such as salary, capitation, among others-represent varying degrees of aggregation. Since the satisfaction of different medical specialists has been associated with patient interactions, payment methods that encourage duration and quality of time in the provision of patient care are recommended instead of FFS schemes [4] .…”