Progress status of physician work style reform in obstetrics and gynecology and hospital attributes

Abstract

Obstetricians and Gynecologists (OBGYNs) have longest working hours, making it difficult to promote work style reforms. In this study, we conducted a questionnaire survey to the heads of departments working at hospitals across Japan, and collected information about the progress of physician workstyle reforms and the hospital attributes. A questionnaire was sent to 1,170 hospitals, and valid responses were received from 325 physicians. The most common responses that “already implemented” included “objective management of hospital stay using time cards”, ”in-hospital nursery school” and “childcare leave (female doctors)”. On the other hand, the lowest percentage of respondents who answered “already implemented” were “introducing shift work”, “childcare leave (male doctors)”, and “planning to obtain B level”. Number of doctors: 10 or more was associated with the ease of implementing restrictions on work intervals and continuous working hours. In OBGYN, it is necessary to prioritize centralization of medical institutions in parallel with workstyle reform.