Abstract
Anesthesiologists have a significant responsibility to provide care at all hours of the day, including nights, weekends, and holidays. This call burden carries a significant lifestyle constraint that can impact relationships, affect provider wellbeing, and has been associated with provider burnout. This quality improvement study analyzes the effects of a dynamic call marketplace, which allows anesthesiologists to specify how much call they would like to take across a spectrum of hypothetical compensation levels, from very low to very high. The system then determines the market equilibrium price such that every anesthesiologist gets exactly the amount of desired call. A retrospective analysis compared percentage participation in adjusting call burden both pre- and post-implementation of a dynamic marketplace during the years of 2017 to 2023. Additionally, a 2023 post-implementation survey was sent out assessing various aspects of anesthesiologist perception of the new system including work-life balance and job satisfaction. The dynamic call marketplace in this study enabled a more effective platform for adjusting call levels, as there was a statistically significant increase in the percentage of anesthesiologists participating in call exchanged during post- compared to pre-implementation (p < 0.0001). The satisfaction survey suggested agreement among anesthesiologists that the dynamic call marketplace positively affected professional satisfaction and work-life balance. Further, the level of agreement with these statements was most prevalent among middle career stage anesthesiologists (11–20 years as attending physician). The present system may target elements with the capacity to increase satisfaction, particularly among physicians most at risk of burnout within the anesthesia workforce.
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No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.
The derived data generated in this research will be shared on reasonable request to the corresponding author.
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All funding was provided by the Department of Anesthesiology at NorthShore University HealthSystem.
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All authors played a significant role in the study design, data analysis, writing, and revision process.
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After reviewing the premise of this study, the NorthShore University HealthSystem Institutional Review Board waived review and need for consent as it was deemed quality improvement.
Competing Interests
Mark Deshur, MD, MBA serves as a consultant for UKG. None of the consulting work has anything to do with the current research. Noah Ben-Isvy has no conflicts of interest. Chi Wang, PhD has no conflicts of interest. Andrew Locke has no conflicts of interest. Mohammed Minhaj, MD, MBA has no conflicts of interest. Steven Greenberg, MD has received research grants from Senzime, Merck, and Fresenius Kabi. None of these grants have anything to do with the current research.
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Deshur, M.A., Ben-Isvy, N., Wang, C. et al. A Dynamic Marketplace for Distributing Anesthesia Call: A Quality Improvement Initiative. J Med Syst 48, 34 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-024-02052-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-024-02052-4