Dr. Kilpatrick
Nearly a decade ago, NCMB started the practice of periodically surveying the physicians and physician assistants (PAs) it licenses. This August, we conducted the latest such survey. Board Members and staff were particularly eager to receive the results, as this is the first time we have engaged with licensees in this way since the coronavirus pandemic.
As the graphics presented in the .pdf spread posted below show, our survey did identify several areas of change from 2018, the last time NCMB conducted a licensee survey. Many Board Members and staff were horrified to see that nearly one in three licensees who completed the survey said they had either witnessed or been involved in a violent incident with patients within the last year. And while this is just one indicator, I cannot help but think it is at least part of the reason why so many more North Carolina physicians and PAs who completed our survey report experiencing burnout. More than half (52 percent) of licensees indicated experiencing symptoms of professional burnout, a marked increase from 2018, when a more modest 35 percent reported the same.
Other changes documented in the 2023 Licensee Survey are less ominous but just as impactful. Not surprisingly, our survey documented a tremendous increase in the practice of telemedicine since pre-pandemic times. There was a nearly fivefold increase in the percentage of licensees who report adopting telemedicine into their practice between 2018 and during the pandemic. And while telemedicine use has dropped off some since the height of the pandemic, current telemedicine use is still exponentially higher than it was before COVID-19.
You may be wondering why NCMB bothers to regularly survey its licensees. The information we gather does not, after all, directly impact the Board’s licensing or enforcement work. It is nonetheless valuable because it helps Board Members and staff ensure that we dedicate time and attention to the topics that matter most to our licensees. Data from this year’s survey inspired NCMB to select Burnout and Telemedicine as the subjects for a recent Board Retreat. And the results also influenced the Board’s Policy Committee to commit to revisiting position statements on telemedicine and opioid prescribing sooner rather than later, to ensure NCMB provides licensees with the most up-to-date guidance.
I sincerely appreciate the licensees who responded to NCMB’s (randomly generated) request to complete the survey. Your input is important, and your regulator considers it carefully. I hope you enjoy the sampling of highlights from the 2023 Licensee Survey results.
View 2023 NCMB Licensee Infographics
View a presentation of the full 2023 NCMB Licensee Survey Results
