Being a medical practitioner can provide everything you’ve ever dreamt of: respect, career, personal and financial growth, etc. But in this day and age, with the huge population they have to serve, there are constant challenges.
They have to juggle various obstacles, some medical, some administrative, and some simply down to a lack of resources. In these last couple of years, they have been wrought dry and fought with everything they’ve got, but even that dedication may sometimes falter.
COVID-19 pandemic has shown us a mirror on many fronts. One of them is that we need to be more humane to our doctors and medical workers, as they’re and will be our last hope if something like this ever happens again.
Even without the dark clouds of the pandemic, medical personnel must take care of things such as changing payment models, government mandates, increasing chronic diseases, and keeping the balance between care and communication.
Here are the biggest challenges medical practitioners face today:
1. Less and less time
The number of patients has grown exponentially over the years, keeping up with the population. As a result, doctors or institutions today can’t spend the amount of time with their patients they’d like. It’s a deep dissatisfaction that has been ailing healthcare systems all across the world.
A growing number of administrative checks and electronic systems of documentation have eaten up a lot of time physicians should ideally spend with their patients.
They spend much more time today keeping records and various desk work. This disproportionate division of time can leave many doctors weary and discontent.
The solutions that are being preached include:
- A more streamlined work process.
- Sharing their workload with more staff.
- More skilled recruitment.
- Developing the work environment.
Above all, there’s a need for a system that can make every second count that a patient gets to interact with the physician.
2. Using the modern technologies
Like everything in the modern world, technology has impacted the healthcare sector as well, and for the most part, it has made it better.
Most doctors and medical institutions currently use EHRs (Electronic Health Records) and need up-to-date framework support from information technology. And it is not cheap.
So, keeping the cost of IT support is another problem physicians need to find an answer for. To tackle the huge cost of computers and software implementation, many practitioners take help from cloud-based record-keeping systems and programs that provide patient education.
3. Educating the public about medical technologies
There are digital health tools available for the common public now that can help them keep a record and maintain their overall health. Many medical equipment like smartwatches and blood pressure monitors have seen growing demand, which will only rise.
After facing a serious health concern, most people now opt for regular tracking through wearables. And doctors need to play the role of a teacher in this regard.
They need to advise different generations of people appropriately about medical tools so that they feel encouraged to engage with them.
4. Funding Challenges
Independent medical practitioners serve rural or off-the-grid areas really well. But the biggest challenge that they’re facing now is the funding.
Their expenses have skyrocketed as they have to take help from third-party service providers, but there’s hardly any government funding for those. In addition, most physicians need to keep records in a digital database, but they have to fund it on their own, which forces their hands to consider more traditional means of employment.
Additionally, legal actions against them have risen consistently, which can erase all of their wealth for any unintentional mishap. Thankfully, they can cover those expenses with proper indemnity insurance from reputed companies like Tego.
5. Burnout
Another challenge that overwhelms today’s doctors at some point in time is job burnout. More and more practitioners are getting physically and emotionally drained by its sheer demand and monotony. It can converge in graver outcomes like leaving the profession altogether, facing mental and physical health issues, etc.
The pandemic has been a great catalyst, though signs were showing much before that. That’s why institutions and practitioners need to balance their life and work much more than ever so that the stress doesn’t take away their spirit and passion.
CONCLUSION
Being a medical practitioner in today’s world comes with contrasting extremes. On the one hand, it can provide you with everything you’ve ever wanted in life; on the other, it can cripple you with the weight of your responsibilities.
So, everyone in this profession must concentrate on their well-being first, as good health ensures saved lives.
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