Texas Children’s Pediatrics’ work to support physician well-being is not a short-term effort or a one-time response to burnout. It is an ongoing, systemwide commitment to better understand what physicians need, remove the daily obstacles that drain their time and energy, and build support into the way care teams work.
Now, the organization is focused on moving from listening to action. That means implementing practical changes designed to help physicians feel more supported in their day-to-day work, strengthen connections across teams, and create a more sustainable practice environment. The goal is not simply to offer more resources, but to make well-being part of the culture of Texas Children’s Pediatrics—one improvement at a time.
“What kept coming back front and center was this feeling of burnout for our physicians and not feeling like they were being supported in the way they wanted or needed,” said Dan Gollins, president of Texas Children’s Pediatrics and Urgent Care.
Physicians wanted to get back to that feeling of connection with their patients and belonging that aligned with the mission of the organization.
“Without having strong physicians and strong frontline staff that feel supported, we aren’t going to be a successful organization,” Gollins said. “It was really important for me to make sure that we headed down that road, that there is an open line of communication, that they feel supported and backed.
“That’s even more so now than ever before, given all the changes in healthcare and a lot of the conversations that are going on in the front lines, especially with our pediatricians,” he added.
Texas Children's Pediatrics is part of the AMA Health System Member Program, which provides enterprise solutions to equip leadership, physicians and care teams with resources to help drive the future of medicine.
Sharing the work
One important area for Texas Children’s Pediatrics is to look at teamwork and how to offload some of the physician documentation burden when appropriate.
“This is something that has been really interesting. There are certain metrics—particularly when you look at the EHR measurements that the Joy in Medicine Health System Recognition Program looks at,” said Sapna Singh, MD, a pediatrician and chief medical officer at Texas Children’s Pediatrics. “Let’s take teamwork for example, and the idea that you can offload a lot of work by having people help with that.”
It’s about “who’s placing an order in the system and how is that measured and tracking the data to see if physicians or other team members are responsible for all of that or is there shared clinical work?” Dr. Singh explained, noting it is about making sure that “people are really sharing the work.”
Another big win was the roll out of augmented intelligence (AI) technology to help take notes during appointments—taking the physicians from behind their computers and placing them directly in front of their patients. Texas Children’s Pediatrics has seen and heard positive feedback from both their patients and physicians, noting more direct face-to-face conversations, improved documentation time, and less time spent after hours charting due to the use of AI.
Supporting physicians
“Our journey on this well-being work has shifted fundamentally. If we go back five years ago, the burnout comments and factors were very different than what they are now,” Gollins said. “For probably the first three or four years, it was what I would call internal pressures that we have control over or that we could directly impact. For the last 12 to 18 months, it has shifted significantly to external.”
“For example, the way that patients are interacting with our physicians around vaccine hesitancy. That fundamental shift has caused us to pause and ask, ‘How do we support our physicians differently?’” he explained.
“We want to show everyone that the system supports our physicians and clinical teams, fundamentally,” Dr. Singh said. “There’s more trust in the system, there’s more trust amongst one another, and that trust is really the result of all the work that we put in, starting four or five years ago.”
Working with the AMA
As part of the AMA Health System Member Program, Texas Children’s Pediatrics has the benefit of getting “to share with other groups what their best practices are—what's working, what isn’t working—so everyone is not reinventing the wheel,” Dr. Singh said. For example, at the American Conference on Physician Health in Boston, “that was really helpful for me to be able to make those connections and talk to other groups, some of which we’ve continued the conversation with locally.”
“That’s really been helpful because you feel like you’re not alone in this journey and there are other people who are working alongside you within their own different organizations,” she said, “but all of us have successes we can share.”
“It’s been nice to have partners to bounce ideas off of and make sure we’re headed down the right pathway,” Gollins said. “When we started this work, we had forged our own path and diverted back to the AMA’s road map, but it’s been nice to have people to run ideas off of and not have to start something from scratch.”
“We want to know what is going on across the country and hear from experts across the world,” he said, “so having others who have done some of these things before, they’ve really pushed us to think a little differently or ask different questions.”
Ongoing work is needed
When it comes to implementing well-being initiatives and keeping that momentum going, it’s not easy. It’s a long road,” said Dr. Singh. “It’s not something you can go to and say, ‘I am going to do Joy in Medicine this year and figure it out in a couple of months and apply.’”
“When you look at the criteria, the work that’s required, it takes time. It takes a lot of effort, and it takes a lot of collaboration to get to a point where you can claim that recognition,” she said. “To me that says something about the integrity of recognition. That allows people to see our organization and recognize that we put in the work and are focused on improving well-being.”
For Texas Children’s Pediatrics, this work remains an ongoing journey rather than a finished project. While the organization has taken meaningful steps to support physician well-being, leaders recognize that reducing burnout requires sustained attention, honest feedback and continued action. By listening to physicians, identifying new opportunities for improvement and implementing initiatives that respond to real needs, Texas Children’s Pediatrics is working to build a practice environment where physicians feel supported now—and into the future.
Download the 2025 AMA Joy in Medicine magazine (log into your AMA account to view) to see whether your organization is part of the prestigious group of 164 organizations across 40 states and the District of Columbia that are currently recognized for their dedication to physician well-being.
AMA STEPS Forward® offers real-world solutions to common challenges in healthcare today. Explore a variety of innovative, physician-developed resources designed to help prevent physician burnout, optimize workflows, improve well-being and enhance patient care.
