title: Time clock requirements for hospital physicians.
abstract: An agreement negotiated following a doctors' strike in 2011 introduced a requirement that physicians in Israel's public hospitals clock in and out when starting and leaving work. The press reported strong negative reactions to this policy and predicted doctors deserting hospitals en masse. This study examines physicians' reactions toward the clock-in/clock-out policy 6 months after its implementation, and assesses the relationship between these reactions and aspects of their employment context. 676 physicians in 42 hospitals responded to a survey assessing doctor's reactions toward the clock, hospital policy makers, and aspects of their work. Reactions to the clock were generally negative. Sense of calling correlated positively with negative reactions to the clock, and the latter correlated positively with quit intentions. However, overall, respondents reported a high sense of calling and low quit intentions. We suggest that sense of calling buffers and protects physicians from quit intentions. Differences in reactions to the clock were associated with different employment characteristics, but sense of calling did not vary by hospital size or type or by physicians' specialty. The findings offer insights into how physicians' working environment affects their reactions to regulatory interventions, and highlight medical professionalism as buffering reactions to unpopular regulatory policies.
authors.affiliation: Carmel Medical Center, Haifa, Israel. Electronic address: ChenSh2@clalit.org.il.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shapira
authors.affiliation: Department of Business Administration, Ruppin Academic Center, Emek Hefer 4025000, Israel. Electronic address: yavetzir@ruppin.ac.il.
authors.forename: Iris
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Vilnai-Yavetz
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management, Technion Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel. Electronic address: anatr@ie.technion.ac.il.
authors.forename: Anat
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rafaeli
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management, Technion Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel. Electronic address: moran.zemel@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Moran
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zemel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D010563:Personnel Turnover; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000068616:Professionalism; D012926:Social Control, Formal / Q000379:methods; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology
keywords: Clocking in; Hospital physicians; Quit intentions; Sense of calling; Time clocks