Doctors Add MBAs to Their MDs as Health-Care Burnout Spreads

(Bloomberg) -- Joshua Hausfeld was 25 when he completed his MBA, with an emphasis on the business of health care, at Johns Hopkins University. In the same 2005 graduation class was his father, who’d been practicing as a doctor for more than 20 years.

Jeffrey Hausfeld, 65, had been feeling burned out when he heard about his son’s study plans. “He shows me a program,” Jeffrey said. “And I said, ‘The heck with you -- I should do this!’ And he said, ‘Let’s do it together.’’’

While the family story may well be unique, the elder Hausfeld was a pioneer in what’s since become a trend: American doctors and medical students pursuing MBAs to supplement their clinical training and diversify their career options in an industry where the ground keeps shifting.

Prognosis

Another big change could be underway with several Democratic presidential candidates pushing for Medicare for All. Senator Bernie Sanders has a plan for eliminating private health insurance and establishing a single-payer system. And Senator Kamala Harris has vocally supported Sanders’ bill.

The volatility has contributed to lower morale. A shift toward electronic health records, employment in health systems rather than owning a private practice and differing reimbursement structures through the Affordable Care Act are just a few changes doctors have seen over the years, industry veterans say.

“I don’t mean to put it in a negative light, but for sure some docs have become less enamored with the straightforward career of medicine,” said Mitchell Blutt, a doctor and chief executive officer of health-care investment firm Consonance Capital.

After receiving his MBA from the Carey Business School at Johns Hopkins, Jeffrey Hausfeld stopped practicing and decided to take on several business-health ventures, including operating four assisted-living facilities treating memory-loss patients.

He says he was stressed, and he’d seen a shift over time. Earlier in his career, he had been a doctor treating patients. Now, with the growing influence of insurance companies, he was a “provider” dealing with “members”. Plus, he wanted to use his medical knowledge to help more people than just his patients.

Broadening Horizons

Some medical students, observing these changes and hearing from older doctors about the frustrating burdens of bureaucracy, have been lured into business schools. Students also desire to have a wider impact, according to Maria Chandler, a doctor who spearheaded an MD/MBA program at the University of California at Irvine two decades ago.

The number of students earning these dual degrees has doubled in the past decade, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. The shift is also part of a wider evolution at business schools. Traditional MBA programs are hunting for students as many potential applicants -- not just in medicine –- increasingly pursue more specialized courses that focus on specific industries.

Zach Powell, an anesthesiology resident at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York, entered medical school in 2012, just two years after the Affordable Care Act was signed into law.

“At that time, there was constant talk of how the health-care business model is going to be changed and different reimbursements for doctors,” said Powell, who graduated with an MD/MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2017. “That was a big part of the impetus’’ for his decision to get both degrees.

Still Sell It

Powell realized the difference between the two types of education on his first day at the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, when a colleague pitched him a wearable heart monitor. He told the student getting funding and regulatory approval for such a device was a decade-long challenge.

While acknowledging it might not be purely useful, the student replied, “but you could definitely still sell it”.

American doctors earn a lot by global standards. Comparisons are difficult and there’s limited data, but most studies put the U.S. at or near the top of the international league when it comes to physician pay. The median pay for American physicians and surgeons was $208,000 last year or about $100 per hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

And, while more medical students are entering MBA programs, many still decide to pursue residency. But their business-school background can set them up for an additional venture on the side. Powell said his long-term goal is to split his time working in both private practice and medical consulting.

The number of dual degree graduates, while growing, is still a small portion of the overall medical school cohort. Some colleges have 2 or 3 students in each class. The University of California at Irvine has a relatively large group of MD/MBAs, which typically make up about 20% of the class, Chandler said.

“These people are working really hard, and I think they’re going to change medicine someday,” Chandler said. “There are just not enough of them out there.

To contact the reporter on this story: Shelly Hagan in New York at shagan9@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Tanzi at atanzi@bloomberg.net, Ben Holland, Melinda Grenier

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