A Preferred Provider of Be Well MD

One physician recently recognized his own professional challenge upon hearing the logic for physician wellness: “Who helps the Doc when the Doc needs help?’’

Be Well MD is acutely aware of the ongoing changes within the healthcare industry and the significant impact these changes have on physicians. Through the Physician and Family Wellness Program we are prepared to support physicians dealing with complex professional and personal matters. Dr. Sime and his team are available to help.

Concierge Consultation for Physicians and Their Families

Physician and Family Wellness provides specialized services to physicians and their families. Confidential, convenient personal coaching and health consulting services are based in Lincoln, NE; Denver, CO and Palm Springs, CA, with remote services provided throughout the country.

Physicians Are Peak Performers

Where else is peak performance more important than in treating the medical needs of patients, where the outcome can be life or death? Physicians are called upon to be precise and definitive and have little room for error.

“Physicians are athletes and critical performers, just as much as the Olympians, and their challenge is far more important when it comes to making the right decisions and carrying out procedures and surgeries under extreme pressure with life and death outcomes.”
James Loehr, Johnson and Johnson

Working with Physicians

More and more physicians are seeking outside, confidential consultation for a variety of personal concerns. The challenges of work-life balance, the financial and administrative burdens of running a practice and the ongoing pressure of delivering medicine at the highest levels can sometimes leave physicians overwhelmed and defeated.

Coaching and consultation may be helpful to reflect on difficult life experiences and to learn ways to enrich aspects of life. Below are just some of the services offered by the experts of Physician and Family Wellness.

• Critical incident stress debriefing following a tragic loss of life in an attempt to save
• Conflict-resolution when situations arise within the medical practice that require mediation
• Strengthening marital communication in the midst of misunderstanding and resentment
• Peak performance guidance in learning new procedures or enhancing teamwork in the practice
• Basic stress management to include: 1) actionable solutions; 2) reality testing and 3) palliative antidotes, e.g., healthy exercise, cognitive restructuring, functional relaxation, biofeedback and EMDR for trauma reduction

Working with the Physician’s Family

Being part of a medical family can be a richly rewarding experience. It can also be a challenge because the physician’s medical practice oftentimes takes priority. Family trouble begins slowly and can be undetectable.

Medical marriages that survive are dependent on all family members finding their own pathway to growth, achievement and a feeling of self-actualization. Imbalanced family dynamics can present issues – where spouse and children build up resentments if communications and negotiations are not encouraged and nurtured.

Examples of How We Can Help

Read below for real-life scenarios that initiated a consultation by a physician or spouse and were managed successfully by a Physician and Family Wellness psychologist.

Scenario One: Oldest son not doing well in school and developed a conflicted relationship with his physician parent. The physician parent spent many of the ‘son-parent bonding’ years in a long and difficult residency followed immediately with the development of a time-consuming specialty practice. Anger, resentment and acting out behavior developed gradually throughout teenage years and both parents suffered a great deal of angst and worry about the young man’s angry, rebellious future.

Scenario Two: The physician’s spouse has a career too, but is not able to achieve happiness because of sacrifices necessary to accommodate the physician partner’s long work hours (e.g. always picking up the children from daycare). The frustrated spouse also feels compelled to do household chores and prepare meals because the physician is overwhelmed by the demands of a new practice. Doubts come up in the minds of both partners about whether the marriage is really worthwhile.

Individualized and Always Accessible

The services provided by Physician and Family Wellness are based entirely on the individual needs of the physician. This might range from personal health issues and conflicts in the medical practice to coaching the physician’s high school children towards a successful career. Dr. Sime and his clients develop the counseling plan together.

The team of consultants supporting Dr. Sime responds to telephone or email requests on the same day or the next day, whenever the physician’s need is identified. Dr. Sime partners with a physician to assist with professional matters, as needed. The team is on call 24/7. For convenience, personal visits can be conducted in the comfort of the physician’s home, and the physician (or any member of the physician’s family) can contact us any time with questions or concerns.

Program Details

Confidentiality: Information disclosed in consultation is both confidential and privileged. There are no client records and information shared is used only for the purpose of personal or professional development, except in the case of eminent danger or reports of ethical violation.

Fees: Fee structure for individuals can range from $150 to $500 per hour depending on urgency and criticality of the presenting problem. Fees may be waived if a sponsoring hospital contracts for these services, but the confidentiality for the physician remains intact.

Scheduling: Services are provided with flexibility to accommodate the realities of physicians’ schedules. Location of consultations can be at the personal discretion of the physician and may also be conducted entirely by telephone on HIPPA compliant video-conferencing.

Getting Started: Service is provided by a licensed psychologist, in concert with one or more established physicians, as needed. While the services are bound by state statute requirements for quality of service, the actual interaction is first viewed as consultation and coaching and only approaches clinical applications if necessary, in the case of serious mental health issues.

Accessing the Services of Physician and Family Wellness

Our services start with getting to know each prospective client on a personal level. If you or someone you know would benefit from time with Dr. Sime and his consulting team, please start by completing the form below. Once our team receives your information we’ll take the next step to schedule an initial appointment.

About Dr. Wes Sime

Dr. Wes Sime, the director of Physician and Family Wellness is a health psychologist and a peak performance (sports) psychologist. With a PhD in exercise science, a PhD in counseling psychology and an MPH in public health, Dr. Sime is certified separately in three areas: biofeedback, stress management and applied sports psychology. He has been the medical consultant for the US Army Center for Enhanced Performance, providing guidance for Wounded Warriors and elite Special OPs soldiers.

Dr. Sime’s practice is oriented to cognitive behavioral problem-solving and stress management and includes a wellness perspective for achieving optimal success and satisfaction. Additionally, Dr. Sime is skilled in dealing with young adults and children who present with serious issues.

Dr. Sime begins his initial physician client sessions with a brief introduction of his own personal and professional history (self-disclosure) to help his clients relax and feel comfortable initiating their respective introduction. His genuine and trusting approach combined with his unique expertise effectively reassures physicians about the process.

Why This Service Should Matter to Hospitals

Physicians have been the subject of recent studies showing a growing epidemic of physician burnout. Research data shows that half of practicing physicians are suffering from a variety of frustrations in this increasingly complicated world of risks, scorecards and paperless hassles. Worse yet, there is a significantly higher-than-norm suicide rate among physicians. The break room conversations among older physicians lean heavily toward early retirement because of administrative requirements, which takes away from the satisfaction of good patient care.

Research shows that it costs $200-300K to recruit and replace one physician. On the positive side, every dollar spent on physician and family wellness as a “cost avoidance” factor showed a ten-dollar return on investment. Employee Assistance Programs are often taken for granted for non-physician staff including administration, nursing and housekeeping. Unfortunately these same EAPs are not accessed by physicians because of confidentiality and convenience concerns.

The Physician and Family Wellness Program provides an accessible, confidential and individualized service to one of the hospital’s most valuable assets – its physicians.