The stakes are high, with physician burnout linked to lapses in patient safety and care quality. Our next Winning Edge webinar explores how to address this crucial problem.
Physician burnout is one of the tragedies of U.S. healthcare, and it has a significant impact on patient care.
Society expects physicians to heal and comfort people when they are suffering. But about half of all doctors are themselves suffering from burnout, which includes emotional, mental, and moral injury.
In research, physician burnout has been associated with compromised patient safety and care quality.
Physician burnout spiked during the coronavirus pandemic. In a 2021 survey of physicians conducted by the American Medical Association, Mayo Clinic, Stanford University School of Medicine, and the University of Colorado School of Medicine, 62.8% of physicians reported experiencing burnout symptoms.
In 2023, 48.2% of doctors reported experiencing at least one symptom of burnout, according to AMA data. This was the first time the rate of physician burnout was below 50% since 2020.
There are three main symptoms of physician burnout, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians. Exhaustion is characterized by low physical and emotional energy levels. Depersonalization includes sarcasm and cynicism about patients and jobs. Lack of efficacy features doubt about the meaning and quality of providing care.
There is no silver bullet to address physician burnout and no singular approach to boosting physician well-being.
In interviews with HealthLeaders, healthcare leaders have said that efforts to promote physician well-being fall into two primary categories: system and individual approaches.
System approaches focus on barriers to well-being at the organizational level. Efforts to address these barriers include reducing administrative burdens on doctors, providing flexibility in scheduling, and optimizing electronic medical records.
Individual approaches include employee benefits, resources for physicians to seek help for emotional or mental distress, and methods for increasing personal resilience.
Focusing on solutions
For clinical care leaders, promoting physician well-being and addressing physician burnout is essential to the success of their organizations. That is why HealthLeaders is bringing together a panel of industry experts to share best practices and innovative approaches.
The next webinar in our Winning Edge series, which will be held on Tuesday, January 21, from 1 to 2 PM ET, will tackle physician well-being and burnout head-on. Discussion topics include eliminating barriers to doctors reaching out for help, designing interventions to keep physicians healthy, providing forums for doctors that offer psychological safety, and addressing workplace violence.
Our panel includes:
- Thomas Campbell, chief wellness officer, Allegheny Health Network;
- Christopher Cheney, event moderator and HealthLeaders CMO editor;
- Jim Gilligan, VP of health system and group partnerships, American Medical Association;
- Amy Jibilian, chief wellness officer, Lehigh Valley Health Network; and
- Shawn Jones, medical director of provider wellness, Baptist Health Medical Group.
This is not just another webinar—it is an opportunity to learn from the best in the business and take away strategies you can implement at your organization.
Join us as we explore physician burnout and physician well-being in depth. Help your doctors avoid the tragedy of physician burnout.
Register here today to reserve your spot and see what other topics we have coming up.
This webinar is sponsored by the American Medical Association.
Christopher Cheney is the CMO editor at HealthLeaders.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Physician burnout spiked during the coronavirus pandemic, with 62.8% of doctors experiencing burnout symptoms in 2021.
There is no silver bullet to address physician burnout and no singular approach to boosting physician well-being.