Tackling the Rheumatology Workforce Shortage

Resilience programs are akin to blaming the victim, he said, declaring that rheumatologists are resilient.

His ideas?

• “If you are putting in pajama time” working on documentation, he said, “you need to stop.”
• “Answer in-basket queries very quickly,” he said. If something takes longer than a sentence or two, convert the response to a telemedicine visit and bill for it.
• Don’t cut the patient visit below 30 minutes.
• Schedule me time—at least an hour a day. Take vacations without EMRs.
• Don’t be held to market value on your salary. “Take a look at what locum tenens are being paid. … Don’t be bullied.”

In Sum

The rheumatology workforce issues won’t be resolved easily. The ACR’s Workforce Solutions Committee is continuing to work on solving this crisis.

The session will be available on demand to all registered ACR Convergence 2024 attendees through Oct. 10, 2025, by logging into the meeting website.

Keri Losavio is the staff editor of The Rheumatologist.

References

1. Battafarano DF, Ditmyer M, Bolster MB, et al. 2015 American College of Rheumatology workforce study: Supply and demand projections of adult rheumatology workforce, 2015–2030. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2018 Apr;70(4):617–626.
2. Tiwari V, Kavanaugh A, Martin G, Bergman M. High burden of burnout on rheumatology practitioners. J Rheumatol. 2020 Dec 1;47(12):1831–1834.
3. McGoldrick J, Molina-Ochoa D, Schwab P, et al. An evaluation of burnout among US rheumatology fellows: A national survey. J Rheumatol. 2023 Sep;50(9):1185–1190.