Senators advance ACR-supported bill to prevent suicide and burnout among physicians
Members of Congress recently advanced an American College of Radiology-supported bill aimed at addressing burnout among the physician workforce.
The U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee voted 19-2 on May 23 to approve the measure. Dubbed the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Reauthorization Act. S. 3679 aims to address suicide, burnout and mental health concerns among healthcare providers.
“I am pleased by today’s votes in the HELP Committee, and I urge the full Senate to pass these bipartisan bills,” Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., who introduced the legislation in January alongside Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said in a statement.
The American College of Radiology and over 60 other organizations recently penned a letter to lawmakers, thanking them for their “critical” effort to reauthorize the legislation. First passed in early 2022, the Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act came in response to a New York emergency physician’s suicide in April 2020. However, the bill is set to expire in September 2024, with ACR and others highlighting the crucial need for its programs to continue.
“As a result of this law that honors Dr. Lorna Breen’s life and legacy, healthcare workers have better access to education and training on preventing stress and burnout before the need becomes dire,” ACR, the American College of Emergency Physicians, the American Society for Radiation Oncology and others wrote May 23. “Because of the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, lives have been saved and livelihoods have been protected. Access to mental and behavioral health support and treatment has improved and more employers are able to engage with their workforce on these issues, provide greater resources, and accelerate promising solutions.”
S. 3679 would reauthorize five years of grant programs to help train healthcare workers and students on strategies to prevent suicide, burnout, mental health conditions and substance use disorders. It would prioritize communities with shortages of healthcare workers including rural geographies.
U.S. Reps. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., Susan Wild, D-Pa., Buddy Carter, R-Ga., and Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., have also introduced a companion legislation in the House.
The American College of Radiology highlighted its support for the bill in a news update published Wednesday.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.