Abstract
In September 2017, the Child Neurology Society (CNS) convened a special task force to review the practice of child neurology in the United States. This was deemed a necessity by our membership, as our colleagues expressed discouragement and burnout by the increase in workload without additional resources; reliance on work relative value units (wRVUs) as the sole basis of compensation; a push by administrators for providers to see more patients with less allotted time; and lack of administrative, educational, and research support. The CNS Task Force designed and distributed a survey to multiple academic divisions of various sizes, as well as to private practices. Our findings were strikingly similar across different practices, demonstrating high workloads, lack of resources, poor electronic medical record support, and high provider symptoms of fatigue and burnout. From the results, the CNS Task Force has concluded that wRVUs cannot be the sole basis of compensation for child neurology. We have also made several specific recommendations for alleviating the current situation, including innovative ways to fund child neurology as well as ways to enhance job satisfaction.
Glossary
- CNS=
- Child Neurology Society;
- FTE=
- full-time employees;
- IPOP=
- independent private organizations and practices;
- NP=
- nurse practitioners;
- RVU=
- relative value unit;
- wRVU=
- work relative value unit
Footnotes
Go to Neurology.org/N for full disclosures. Funding information and disclosures deemed relevant by the authors, if any, are provided at the end of the article.
Editorial, page 57
- Received March 20, 2019.
- Accepted in final form October 29, 2019.
- © 2019 American Academy of Neurology
Disputes & Debates: Rapid online correspondence
- Author response: Child neurology in the 21st century: More than the sum of our RVUs
- Author response: Child neurology in the 21st century: More than the sum of our RVUs
- Reader response: Child neurology in the 21st century: More than the sum of our RVUs
- Reader response: Child neurology in the 21st century: More than the sum of our RVUs
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