Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH

A physician, professional coach, author, and health care writer.

50 articles on KevinMD · 3 podcast episodes · Listed in Experts by KevinMD

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Articles, page 3

Physician voices

Physician leaders’ role in preventing burnout

Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH

April 20, 2017Apr 20, 20174

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to interview a faculty physician at a large academic medical center. We spoke about burnout in students and faculty in general terms. He was aware of the problem yet did not seem…

I asked him how he managed to avoid burnout. He talked about remembering his purpose in entering medicine — that the profession is a calling, not just the daily …

Physician voices

Place emotional harms on par with physical ones

Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH

February 20, 2017Feb 20, 20178

Why would a well-respected, venerable health care organization adopt a soft and squishy approach -- tracking disrespect and other forms of emotional harm -- to monitor its performance? In 2007, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), a 672-bed health system…

Why would a well-respected, venerable health care organization adopt a soft and squishy approach — tracking disrespect and other forms of emotional harm — to monitor its performance?

In 2007, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), a 672-bed health system affiliated with Harvard Medical School, adopted the audacious aim of eliminating all preventable harm by January 1, 2012. According to Kenneth Sands, MD, chief quality officer of BIDMC, the organization has …

Physician voices

There is a direct connection between inefficiency and burnout

Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH & Paul DeChant, MD, MBA

January 12, 2017Jan 12, 20177

An excerpt from Preventing Physician Burnout: Curing the Chaos and Returning Joy to the Practice of Medicine. Mark Linzer’s research identified workplace chaos as one of the key predictors of physician stress, burnout, and intention to leave. A recent analysis…

An excerpt from Preventing Physician Burnout: Curing the Chaos and Returning Joy to the Practice of Medicine.

Mark Linzer’s research identified workplace chaos as one of the key predictors of physician stress, burnout, and intention to leave. A recent analysis of the data showed that physicians in clinics with chaotic work environments had …

Physician voices

When administrators shadow doctors and nurses, good things happen

Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH

January 6, 2017Jan 6, 20173

I want to share a cool idea used at Mission Health in North Carolina. I recently interviewed Dr. Ron Paulus, CEO of the health system. Three years ago the organization launched “Immersion Day,” when board members leave their corporate meeting…

Journalists and legislators are also invited to join. They don scrubs, go through an orientation, sign privacy forms, and spend 9 …

Physician voices

Doctors aren’t superhuman. Stop treating them that way.

Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH

December 15, 2016Dec 15, 20166

Physicians have long been seen as superhuman -- able to jump the academic hurdles required to gain entrance to medical school, willingly delaying many of the gratifications associated with young adulthood, surviving long hours during training and later when in…

Physicians have long been seen as superhuman — able to jump the academic hurdles required to gain entrance to medical school, willingly delaying many of the gratifications associated with young adulthood, surviving long hours during training and later when in practice, keeping a cool head amidst crisis.

In many ways, we physicians thrive on this image. Personally, I was unaware of how much I enjoyed the mantle of hero until I …

Health technology

A revolution is needed to fix what’s wrong with EMRs

Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH

November 19, 2016Nov 19, 20166

During the Q&A period after a presentation I gave recently on understanding and preventing physician burnout, a physician in the audience voiced her vehement objections to the current electronic health record (EHR) with a simple statement: “We need a revolution.”…

In a few words, she described her frustrations with the EHR. “It is meaningless — full of fields that we cut and paste from other fields. There are an ever-growing number …

Physician voices

Fix the root cause of physician burnout. Not just the symptoms.

Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH

December 29, 2015Dec 29, 201548

When I hung up my white coat for the last time and left the practice of medicine, the term, “physician burnout” was unfamiliar. It wasn’t until I stumbled across research studies many years later, in my work as a freelance writer, that I finally understood the underlying reasons that I needed to walk away. Today, you can’t read about health care without seeing the term. Does the widespread use of …

Physician voices

Physician well-being is essential to optimal patient care

Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH

June 13, 2014Jun 13, 20149

I chose to leave clinical medicine in 1996 after just three years as a general internist. At the time, I was certain that it was the right decision and necessary for my overall health, but could not have articulated all the reasons why I needed to leave. I loved both the intellectual challenge and the art of medicine. I thoroughly enjoyed my connections with patients. I regarded my professional life …

Physician voices

Self-preservation: Why I abandoned clinical practice

Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH

October 25, 2013Oct 25, 201317

When I introduce myself as a physician who left clinical practice, non-physicians ask me why I left. They’re generally intrigued that someone who sacrificed many years and many dollars for medical training would then change her mind. But physicians, almost universally, never ask me why I left. Instead, they ask me how. They call and email me with logistical questions, wanting to learn the secret of how I managed the …

Physician voices

Closing communication gaps between providers

Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH

June 6, 2011Jun 6, 20115

Errors in communication are widely recognized as an important cause of adverse events in health care. In 2010, communication problems were the most commonly cited root cause of sentinel events, according to data reported to the Joint Commission. In fact,…

In fact, communication issues were identified as a root cause of two thirds of all the sentinel events reported to the …