Leadership in health care doesn’t just shape organizational strategy—it directly influences the well-being of the physician workforce. And medicine appears to be seeing a notable shift in how physicians perceive their leaders, according to the results of an exclusive AMA survey. This shows that trust in health care leadership is on the rise, with more doctors reporting that they feel supported, valued and empowered by those at the helm.
Nearly 18,000 responses from physicians across 43 states were received from more than 100 health systems and organizations who participated in the AMA Organizational Biopsy® last year. The AMA national physician comparison report—which is exclusive data to the AMA that is not published anywhere else—reflects 2024 trends on six key performance indicators—job satisfaction, job stress, burnout, intent to leave an organization, feeling valued by an organization and total hours spent per week on work-related activities (known as “time spend”).
The purpose of the aggregated data is to provide a national summary of organizational well-being and to serve as a comparison for other health care organizations. The results represent data from all organizations that surveyed with the AMA in 2024.
As the leader in physician well-being, the AMA is reducing physician burnout by removing administrative burdens and providing real-world solutions to help doctors rediscover the Joy in Medicine®.
For 2024, 43.2% of physicians reported experiencing at least one symptom of burnout, down from 48.2% in 2023 and 53% in 2022. But there is one proactive area that can help improve well-being and reduce burnout among physicians: the behaviors of health care leaders.
That’s why leadership is a pillar of the AMA’s Joy in Medicine® Health System Recognition Program, which empowers health systems to reduce burnout and build well-being so that physicians and their patients can thrive.
When asked about leadership, physician respondents reported that their leader:
- Supports me in my work: 72.8%, up from 67.5%.
- Supports my career development: 62.7%, up from 58.3%.
- Solicits and follows-up on my ideas and perspectives: 66.4%, up from 61.8%.
- Shares organizational information openly with me: 70.5%, up from 68.4%.
- Recognizes my contributions: 70.3%, up from 66.9%.
Explore how the AMA Health System Member Program works with health care leaders to tailor solutions that maximize support for physicians and care teams.
Trust in leadership
Leaders are responsible for generating trust in their organizations. This is true, internally, among physicians and other health professionals, but also externally among patients and the community. In fact, research shows that workplaces in which physicians feel valued, have control over their workload and trust their leaders have less burnout and, consequently, less turnover.
When asked about trust in leadership, 75.8% of physicians said they trust that their local leaders will help keep them safe. Meanwhile, 66.7% reported that they trust their executive leadership will keep them safe from occupational hazards such as infection, injury, or from offensive and aggressive behavior from patients, family or staff.
Additionally, 65% of physician respondents agreed with the statement, “I trust that my local leaders will make decisions that help me provide the best care for my patients.” Meanwhile, 50% of physicians said they trust their executive leaders to make decisions that help them provide the best care for their patients.
Health systems
When physicians feel valued, supported and empowered by their leaders, they experience lower levels of burnout and higher job satisfaction. By prioritizing trust and implementing strategies to foster positive relationships and proactive communication, organizations can reduce physician burnout while creating a more sustainable and thriving health care system.
These examples from health care organizations that are 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—show commitment to creating a culture of well-being, starting with their leaders.
Atlantic Health System listens to physicians to guide change
- As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Atlantic Health System established a committee that was largely focused on physician well-being. It was very effective for the need at that moment and for the time it was in place. But with the health system’s goal to be the best place for physicians to practice in New Jersey, they recognized that the work is broader than what could have been done through just that committee structure. Atlantic Health System needed new well-being leadership. Enter Shai Gavi, DO, MPH.
- While Dr. Gavi has been with Atlantic Health System for some time, he stepped into a new role of chief medical officer to enhance the physician experience and reexamine the well-being work being done. But he isn’t doing it alone—he has a strong team to help that still works within the committee structure. Together they perform listening tours and embrace physician work groups to hear what physicians and other health professionals are looking for.
Confluence Health boosts physician leadership, one piece at a time
- Like a particularly high-stakes game of Trivial Pursuit, good physician leadership requires getting more than just one piece of the pie done correctly.
- Great physician leaders need to be adept on multiple fronts, said Galen Sorom, MD, an internist and physician leader at Confluence Health in Wenatchee, Washington. Some leaders, for example, already are strong on the use of quality metrics. Others excel as communicators while other physician leaders understand their organizations inside and out.
- To help, Confluence Health takes a multitiered approach to help physician leaders create a thriving team.
Geisinger gives doctors the tools to support each other
- When Susan Parisi, MD, first stepped into her role as chief wellness officer at Geisinger in 2022, the country was just emerging from the deadliest phase of the COVID-19 pandemic that contributed to record physician burnout rates in the U.S.
- That required Dr. Parisi to jump right into the deep end to take Geisinger’s well-being strategy to the next level and help bring the health system out of a time where physician burnout rates nationwide were at an all-time high.
Lehigh Valley Health Network shows appreciation and promotes agency
- Health systems must also foster a culture of recognition and appreciation. While physician-appreciation events are beneficial, smaller, daily acknowledgments from leadership can have an even greater impact.
- “Receiving an email or a verbal ‘thank you’ for a job well done can completely shift a physician’s morale,” said Amy A. Jibilian, MD, chief wellness officer for Lehigh Valley Health Network. “It needs to go down to that day-to-day personal interaction where a team leader is having on their radar that opportunity to say thanks to one of their colleagues.”
Northwest Permanente works on building relationships
- As a leader, Stella Dantas, MD, ob-gyn at Northwest Permanente, is committed to creating psychological safety. This serves as the foundation on which to build a strong culture. Naturally, establishing that psychological safety starts at the top with strong, diverse leadership.
- To do this, Dr. Dantas suggests that effective leaders often have to be all things to all people. That means it’s a constant balancing act—they need to be driven yet flexible, analytical yet open-minded, tough yet amiable.
Ochsner Health develops leaders with the right training
- Before the pandemic, AMA member Nigel Girgrah, MD, PhD, chief wellness officer at Ochsner Health in New Orleans, and other members of his team learned about a leadership program in North Carolina that led to a rise in engagement scores—a measure of interaction and interest in an organization—from the 50th percentile to the 95th at that health system.
- The leadership program is meant to take a hard look at who you are, “to understand how the experiences that you’ve had in your life—even your childhood—have shaped your belief systems and developed your biases,” said Dr. Girgrah. The goal for individual participants is to eventually develop a plan and a commitment to that plan to try and change actions. And it’s tough. It’s pretty intensive.”
Download the 2024 AMA Joy in Medicine™ magazine (log into your AMA account to view) to see whether your organization is part of the prestigious group of 130 organizations across 35 states that are currently recognized for their dedication to physician well-being.
AMA STEPS Forward® open-access toolkits and playbooks offer innovative strategies that allow physicians and their staff to thrive in the new health care environment. These resources can help you prevent burnout, create the organizational foundation for joy in medicine, improve practice efficiency and develop a culture of wellness through leadership.
Get the latest news on physician well-being
Subscribe for insights and real-world solutions delivered straight to your inbox.
