In health systems across the country, leaders are learning that meaningful change does not happen through statements of support alone. It happens when organizations can take the next step and turn concern into concrete action.
That is where the real work begins. Bringing physician well-being initiatives to life means translating strategy into something doctors can actually feel in their daily work, whether through strong peer support, changes to workflow or programs designed with physicians’ needs in mind. For health systems trying to make progress, implementation is what turns good intentions into lasting impact.
“This work is not going to be successful just because someone’s passionate about it. It succeeds because of structure, accountability and operational integration,” said Heather Farley, MD, MHCDS, vice president of professional satisfaction for the AMA.
“When organizations move from planning to implementation, the most important shift conceptually is from interest to infrastructure,” said Dr. Farley. “And that starts with clear executive ownership, ideally, a chief wellness officer, chief well-being officer or equivalent leader with a true seat at the table. Without that, this work often becomes fragmented or deprioritized.”
“But the work also can’t live with one person. The most effective model creates a layered structure,” she said. “So, it needs executive sponsorship to align strategy and resources, a central well-being team to drive coordination and measurement, and then embedded local leaders, department chairs, service line leaders and well-being champions who operationalize the day-to-day work.”
“That accountability comes from integrating well-being into existing leadership expectations, not treating this as separate work. That includes things like leader standard work, performance goals, regular review of physician experience metrics alongside other core metrics,” Dr. Farley said. “When well-being is hardwired into daily operations and accountability measures, that’s when it really starts to stick.”
With results in hand from the AMA Organizational Biopsy or another well-being survey, it can be hard for health systems to know where to start for implementation. Dr. Farley sets the stage for what health systems should do—and not do—after receiving their well-being survey results and planning for implementation of initiatives.
Don’t just focus on lagging indicators from the well-being survey
While physician well-being survey scores are an important starting point, they are not sufficient by themselves.
“Burnout, job satisfaction and intent to leave are lagging indicators. They tell you that you’ve got a problem and where you have a problem, but not necessarily how to fix it,” said Dr. Farley. “The most effective organizations focus on leading indicators from the survey. So, drivers of burnout and well-being such as work control and autonomy, operational efficiency of the practice environment, perceptions of leadership support and teamwork.”
“It’s also helpful to pair the survey data with other operational metrics. So, looking at turnover and retention data, actual time spent in the EHR and work outside of work, utilization of support resources—such as an employee assistance programs or peer support,” she said.
Once organizations have the survey and operational data, it is essential to complement that quantitative data with qualitative data.
That means “actually talking to your people. This can be accomplished by leaders rounding, town halls and focus groups,” Dr. Farley recommended. “That quantitative data tells you where to look. Talking to your people tells you what to do in response.”
Once a health system has their well-being survey results in hand, it is vital that leadership take the next appropriate steps for implementation. Dr. Farley offers an inside scoop for what to keep in mind when implementing new initiatives based on survey results and how to get started. This includes:
- Focus areas after surveying.
- Impact and efforts to stay away from.
- How to embed well-being into the organization.
- Why physicians must be part of designing solutions.
- What framework to follow.
- Where AMA resources can help.
- The role of leadership in implementation.
