It's something we've all been through: that fever that spikes in the middle of the night, that cough that just keeps getting worse during the holidays, or that prescription that needs refilling over the weekend. These are common occurrences that primary care providers have always had a system to handle-the on-call hours. When the office is closed, there is at least one doctor on call to cover urgent patient needs, any time, day or night.
But, often, that convenience for patients has meant that, at the other end of the line, a primary care provider had to be ready to answer urgent calls, any time, day or night, outside of their traditional office hours. They might have had to stealthily sneak out of their child's birthday party or wake from much-needed sleep to meet the needs of their patients. While primary care providers know the importance of being there for their patients, blurring the lines between professional and personal lives contributed to a feeling of burnout.
"During the work week, I could get two to three calls a night, and depending on if it was flu season, maybe 20 calls over the weekend-you'd have to be next to your phone at all times," said Aileen John, DO, a family medicine doctor at Penn Family Medicine West Chester and a regional medical director of Penn Medicine Primary Care.
