More than 70% of physicians reported working — some more than 90 minutes a day — while they were on paid time off, according to a July 30 article on the American Medical Association's website.
According to an AMA survey of more than 12,400 responses from physicians and nonphysician providers across 30 states and more than 80 health systems, 5% of physicians did not take a single day of PTO in 2023.
That number is up from 4.7% the previous year. An additional 5.7% took one to five vacation days in 2023 while 13.7% took six to 10 days, 24.5% took 11 to 15 days, 27.6% took 16 to 20 days and 23.4% took more than 20 days.
While 27.9% of physicians said they do not work during PTO, 30.6% reported working one to 30 minutes a day, 20.8% worked 31 to 60 minutes a day, 14.3% worked 61 to 90 minutes per day and 6.3% worked more than 90 minutes a day.
The most commonly cited barrier for physicians taking time off was the potential volume of inbox work faced on return, according to the report.