• Family Physician Burnout, Well-Being, and Professional Satisfaction (Position Paper)

    Introduction

    The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) strongly believes that physician burnout is a health system, organization, practice, and physician culture problem, not just an individual concern. Therefore, the AAFP applies a systems-based approach to identifying and addressing root causes of physician burnout at all levels of the family physician ecosystem while promoting practices supportive of physician well-being throughout the family physician career journey.

    Physician burnout was present and impacting physicians prior to the COVID-19 pandemic; however, the pandemic and subsequent experiences dropped the percentage of physicians reporting being very or somewhat happy with their jobs from 75% to 48%.1 Family physicians suffer from significantly higher rates of burnout than physicians in many other specialties with 51% of family physicians reporting being burned out in 2022.2 Burnout negatively affects quality of patient care including a two-fold increase in odds for unsafe care, unprofessional behaviors and low patient satisfaction.3 Burnout is driving physicians to reduce or leave clinical practice, thus contributing to the primary care workforce shortage.4

    Defining Burnout & Physician Well-being

    “[Job burnout is] a psychological syndrome in response to chronic interpersonal stressors on the job. The three key dimensions of this response are overwhelming exhaustion, feelings of cynicism and detachment from the job, and a sense of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment."5

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines well-being as "In simple terms, well-being can be described as judging life positively and feeling good."6

    Drivers of Physician Burnout

    The importance of identifying and addressing the root causes of physician burnout cannot be overemphasized. Physician burnout if often an interplay of systemic drivers as a result of healthcare organizations and systems and individual physician level factors. Studies indicate that common drivers of family physician burnout include the following: paperwork; feeling undervalued; frustrations with referral networks; difficult patients; medicolegal issues; and challenges in finding work-life balance.7,8 These factors have varying impact at different stages of a physician’s career.9 Inability to resolve work-life conflict has the greatest impact on physicians early in their careers.8 Long hours, frequent call, frustration with administrative burden, and reimbursement issues strongly affect physicians in the middle of their careers.8

    In 2013, the American Medical Association (AMA) commissioned a study by the Rand Corporation to identify high-priority determinants of physician professional satisfaction.12 The authors reported that two important factors influencing professional satisfaction are the use of electronic health records (EHRs) and physicians’ perceptions of their ability to provide high-quality care. Other factors that affect physician professional satisfaction include the following:

    • Autonomy and work control
    • Practice leadership
    • Collegiality, fairness, and respect
    • Work quantity and pace
    • Regulatory and professional liability concerns
    • Work content, allied health professionals, and support staff

    Individual physician factors may also impact burnout including gender, age, sexual orientation and race/ethnicity.2,9,10 Discrimination, lack of respect from colleagues and patients due to race/ethnicity and feeling that their opinions are not considered because of their race or ethnicity are experiences that drive to a culture of feeling undervalued by racially and ethnically minoritized and marginalized physicians in the U.S.10 Family physicians who identify as female, especially those younger than 40 years of age, experience burnout at higher rates than males.11 While there are no burnout studies in LGBTQ+ family physicians, in other specialties LGBTQ+ orientation has been identified as a burnout risk factor in part due to workplace discrimination.13

    Interventions Supporting Physician Well-being and Professional Satisfaction

    Well-being and professional satisfaction are not simply the absence of burnout, just as good health is not simply the absence of disease. Supporting family physicians requires a multi-dimensional approach that includes reduction of burnout drivers in addition to ensuring access to well-being promoting cultures and skills.

    Each individual family physician uniquely experiences his or her professional role within the context of many variables. Five influential elements interact to form the family physician ecosystem illustrated in Figure 1.

    The variables include:

    1. U.S. Health Care System Level – The U.S. health care system is heavily regulated and primarily based on fee-for-service payment. Reporting and documentation requirements place a significant burden on family physicians but do not yield a proportional improvement in quality of care.
    2. Organization Level – The majority of family physicians report that they are either employed or part of an organized medical staff. The values, requirements, and operational policies of an organization can influence professional satisfaction.
    3. Practice Level – The characteristics and efficiencies of the practice environment and the care team can affect the family physician’s well-being.
    4. Individual Level – Individual wellness habits and resilience capabilities can affect the family physician’s response to external stressors.
    5. Physician Culture Level – A culture that elevates self-sacrifice—or even self-neglect—in the service of others can contribute to feelings of shame and guilt when the family physician is unable to achieve superhuman performance levels. Peer-to-peer support is often unavailable.

    Interventions to improve personal well-being and professional satisfaction must be customized based on the family physician’s experience of this ecosystem. Historically, most programs to address burnout have focused on the treatment of individual physicians (e.g., counseling services). Studies have found that self-awareness and mindfulness training can reduce physician burnout and increase both physician well-being and patient-centered qualities.14 However, we now know that resilience training without system-level interventions is insufficient. Interventions should be multimodal, include accountability though identification and reporting of institutional success metrics such as physician satisfaction and well-being, and support development of practice models that preserve the decision making autonomy of physicians.15, 16 Additionally, cultures supporting physician well-being should extend into training settings such as medical schools and residency programs ensuring our future family physicians are empowered to identify and advocate for their needs throughout their careers.

    Leading Physician Well-being

    Physician burnout must be dealt with transparently and proactively because it affects both patient safety and physician well-being. Protecting the family physician workforce to ensure continuous access to high-quality care is critically important. It requires increasing the pathway into family medicine as well as protecting our practicing colleagues allowing them to remain in practice.

    All family physicians are leaders and are key influencers of their communities and workplaces. The AAFP will continue to support a systems-based approach that empowers family physicians to identify and address the root causes of burnout while leading the creation of a culture of well-being. As a trusted partner for members interested in developing their personal resilience and systems-based improvement skills, the AAFP is committed to providing education, resources and experiences to support all members’ well-being and professional satisfaction.

    References

    1. Medscape Physician Lifestyle & Happiness Report 2023. https://www.medscape.com/slideshow/2023-lifestyle-happiness-6015969?icd=login_success_email_match_norm Accessed 2/9/2023.
    2. Medscape Physician Burnout & Depression Report 2022. https://www.medscape.com/slideshow/2022-lifestyle-burnout-6014664#1 Accessed 2/9/2023.
    3. Panagioti M, Geraghty K, Johnson J, et al. Association Between Physician Burnout and Patient Safety, Professionalism, and Patient Satisfaction: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Intern Med. 2018;178(10):1317–1331. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.3713
    4. Sinsky CA, Brown RL, Stillman MJ, Linzer M. COVID-Related Stress and Work Intentions in a Sample of US Health Care Workers. Mayo Clin Proc Innov Qual Outcomes. 2021 Dec;5(6):1165-1173. doi: 10.1016/j.mayocpiqo.2021.08.007. Epub 2021 Dec 8. PMID: 34901752; PMCID: PMC8651505.
    5. Maslach C, Schaufeli WB, Leiter MP. Job burnout. Annu Rev Psychol. 2001;52:397-422.
    6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Well-being concepts. https://www.cdc.gov/hrqol/wellbeing.htm#three  Accessed 2/9/2023.
    7. Lee FJ, Stewart M, Brown JB. Stress, burnout, and strategies for reducing them: what's the situation among Canadian family physicians? Can Fam Physician. 2008;54:234‐235.
    8. Dyrbye LN, Varkey P, Boone SL, Satele DV, Sloan JA, Shanafelt TD. Physician satisfaction and burnout at different career stages. Mayo Clin Proc. 2013;88(12):1358‐1367.
    9. West CP, Dyrbye LN, Shanafelt TD. Physician burnout: contributors, consequences and solutions. J Intern Med. 2018 Jun;283(6):516-529. doi: 10.1111/joim.12752. Epub 2018 Mar 24. PMID: 29505159.
    10. American Medical Association. Experiences of racially and ethnically minoritized and marginalized physicians in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic. https://www.ama-assn.org/system/files/summary-report-covid-mmps-survey.pdf. Accessed 2/9/2023.
    11. Eden AR, Jabbarpour Y, Morgan ZJ, Wilkinson E, Peterson LE. Burnout Among Family Physicians by Gender and Age. J Am Board Fam Med. 2020 May-Jun;33(3):355-356. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2020.03.190319. PMID: 32430366.
    12. Friedberg MW, Chen PG, Van Busum KR, et al. Factors affecting physician professional satisfaction and their implications for patient care, health systems, and health policy. Rand Health Q. 2014;3(4):1.
    13. Chang TC, A R, Candelario C, Berrocal AM, Briceño CA, Chen J, Shoham-Hazon N, Berco E, Valle DS, Vanner EA. LGBTQ+ Identity and Ophthalmologist Burnout. Am J Ophthalmol. 2023 Feb;246:66-85. doi: 10.1016/j.ajo.2022.10.002. Epub 2022 Oct 14. PMID: 36252675.
    14. Krasner MS, Epstein RM, Beckman H, et al. Association of an educational program in mindful communication with burnout, empathy, and attitudes among primary care physicians. JAMA. 2009;302(12):1284‐1293.
    15. Dunn PM, Arnetz BB, Christensen JF, Homer L. Meeting the imperative to improve physician well‐being: assessment of an innovative program. J Gen Intern Med. 2007;22(11):1544‐1552. Epub 2007 Sep 22.
    16. Wiederhold BK, Cipresso P, Pizzioli D, Wiederhold M, Riva G. Intervention for Physician Burnout: A Systematic Review. Open Med (Wars). 2018 Jul 4;13:253-263. doi: 10.1515/med-2018-0039. PMID: 29992189; PMCID: PMC6034099.

    (2014 COD) (October 2023 COD)