Skip to main content

New Collaborative Tackles Clinician Burnout

News  |  By MedPage Today  
   April 13, 2018

Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience take their case to Congress

This article first appeared April 11, 2018 on Medpage Today.

By Shannon Firth

WASHINGTON -- Approximately 400 physicians take their own lives each year, a clinician advocacy group said at a Tuesday congressional briefing.

The Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience takes aim at the root causes of burnout, which can lead to depersonalization, depression, and even suicide, said Victor Dzau, MD, collaborative chair and president of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM).

Dzau cited a 2015 study that reported 54% of physicians experienced at least one symptom of burnout. In addition, 39% had suicidal thoughts, which is twice that rate of the general population, he noted.

Also in 2015, NAM published the report "Breaking the Culture of Silence on Physician Suicide," which included portions of letters from a medical student who committed suicide: "I have finally decided that I'd rather just not exist. I have found myself happy on occasion, and I have had many pleasurable things in my life, but mostly I feel overwhelmingly sad and exhausted from the weight of it. I would just rather not endure it any longer," wrote Kaitlyn Elkins, age 23, who was a medical student at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Since then, NAM, along with the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and others, formed the action collaborative to develop best practices for reducing burnout and promoting wellness among medical professionals.

The collaborative will focus on reducing the administrative burden on healthcare providers by simplifying quality reporting, reducing the need for prior authorizations, and standardizing documentation for payers, according to Clif Knight, MD, AAFP vice president for education.

In addition to examining the causes of burnout, the collaborative will investigate its consequences, including the cost to patients and the healthcare system. For instance, if a physician in a solo practice in rural Alaska leaves his practice because of burnout, this can have serious repercussions on patients' access to care, and the quality of care they receive, Knight explained at the briefing.

Another key element of the collaborative is the team of multi-disciplinary experts that will draft a consensus study that includes a "systems approach" to improving patient care by supporting clinician well-being, explained Charlee Alexander, MPH, collaborative director.

Knight noted that physician culture values "self-sacrifice more than self-care," and this is particularly true in medical schools.

He cited an editorial in response to 2015 study, telling MedPage Today "Until medical schools decide that the mental health outcomes of their student graduates are as important as where they get to go to residency, how much money they bring in for research, what their grades are... until that has the same level of priority, it's not going to get better."


Get the latest on healthcare leadership in your inbox.