PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
By Shawn P. Parker, JD, MPA NCAFP General Counsel & Chief of Staff
Effort to Assist Physicians with Well-Being Now Law The Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act On March 18, President Biden signed the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Act (H.R. 1667/S.610) into law1. The law is named after Lorna Breen, M.D. who died by suicide in April of 2020 following an intense stretch treating COVID-19 patients at the onset of the pandemic. The Lorna Breen Act requires the Department of Health and Human Services to establish grant programs and conduct other activities intended to address the behavioral health and well-being of health care professionals. Even before the pandemic, the U.S. clinical workforce was experiencing a crisis of burnout. A study conducted in 2019 found that more than 300 physicians die by suicide each year, nearly one per day2. According to the CDC, physicians in the U.S. face higher incidence of suicide than almost any other profession. As noted in the study, despite working to improve the health of others, physicians often sacrifice their own well-being to do so. Furthermore, there are systemic barriers in place that discourage self-care and help-seeking behaviors among physicians.3 Physician suicide is a growing public health concern. The COVID-19 pandemic not only magnified this issue but exasperated it with painful clarity regarding the personal hardships physicians faced as they cared for patients, themselves, and their families resulting in a surge of physical and emotional harm tantamount to a second parallel crisis.
in mental health resources to help provide suicide and burnout prevention training in health professional training programs and increase awareness and education about suicide and mental health concerns among health care professionals. Specifically, the Act authorizes up to $135 million, over three years as funding for grants to promote mental health among the health professional workforce, as well as for an education and awareness campaign encouraging healthy work conditions and greater use of mental health and SUD services by health care providers. Those funds are to be used to provide sustained and predictable programming to support the behavioral health and well-being among health care providers through (i) the establishment of programs that offer behavioral health services for front-line health care workers, (ii) the authorization of studies and recommendations about strategies to address provider burnout and facilitate resiliency, and (iii) the creation of a public awareness campaign encouraging health care workers to seek assistance when needed. In addition, the Act directs the US DHHS Secretary, upon consultation with relevant stakeholders, to develop a national evidence based or evidence informed awareness initiative on best practices and recommen-
PHYSICIAN WELL-BEING RESOURCES American Academy of Family Physicians-Physician Well-being Resources
www.aafp.org/family-physician/practice-and-career/ managing-your-career/physician-well-being.html Additionally see Editorial on Preventing Physician Suicide
www.aafp.org/afp/2021/0401/p396.html Mental Health America- COVID-19 Mental Health Resources
www.mhanational.org/covid19
The Lorna Breen Act makes a long overdue investment
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The North Carolina Family Physician
