For New Jersey-based Atlantic Health, progressing from Bronze to Silver from the AMA Joy in Medicine® Health System Recognition Program is all about sustaining meaningful change.
“The milestones required for Silver-level recognition are important ones,” said Shai Gavi, DO, chief medical officer for Atlantic Medical Group, a division of Atlantic Health. They reflect real progress—whether it’s reducing documentation burden, improving EHR-related measures, or advancing leadership structures like a chief wellness officer.
Dr. Gavi also noted the value in recruitment, retention and reputation.
“We tell candidates we’ve achieved Bronze and are working toward Silver—we’re proud of that,” he said.
Atlantic Health 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.
Judy Washington, MD, a family physician and associate chief medical officer at Atlantic Medical Group, pointed to broader cultural and operational efforts underway. Advances in areas such as augmented intelligence (AI), ambient documentation and EHR optimization are accelerating adoption.
“We’ve opened the floodgates on AI and Epic efficiency tools, and when you start to tell people about them, they’re just so excited,” Dr. Washington said. “Whereas I think a few years ago people would've been skeptical.”
When you look at the criteria for Silver-level recognition from the Joy in Medicine Program, it’s all about making physicians’ lives easier. Atlantic Health is on its way toward unburdening its physicians and care teams, she added.
In an interview with the AMA, Drs. Washington and Gavi discussed the strategies Atlantic Health is employing to continuously engage its physicians to drive change—and aim for Silver-level recognition.
Sustaining change means supporting staff
One of Atlantic Health’s enduring goals is to expand its focus to better support care teams as part of its broader engagement strategy.
Atlantic Health has a large and growing group of health professionals, including physician assistants and nurse practitioners, Dr. Gavi said. “We want to make sure they’re well supported in terms of onboarding and professional development.”
In addition, Atlantic Health is partnering with human resources to explore deeper cultural themes through targeted discussions.
“We’re developing focus groups, focusing on themes, particularly on trust and respect,” he said.
Those conversations are intended to surface more nuanced insights, asking questions such as, “What does trust mean to you?” and “What does respect look like in practice?” This is an area Atlantic Health wants to continue to build on, said Dr. Gavi.
Collaboration on personal awareness
One of Atlantic Health’s newer initiatives focuses on an area that hasn’t historically received as much attention: personal awareness.
“I think one of the opportunities for us is really thinking about personal awareness” as a foundation for physician well-being, Dr. Gavi said. It’s about helping physicians and other health professionals to better understand what’s working for them, what isn’t, and where there may be friction.
He highlighted a potential collaboration with a colleague, Jason Knight, MD, Atlantic Health’s director of quality for the Division of Gynecologic Oncology. Dr. Knight recently authored a book on the topic.
“He’s really passionate about physician wellness and is looking forward to partnering with us,” Dr. Gavi said.
This is about helping physicians reflect on their values, better understand themselves, and identify what may be contributing to stress or dissatisfaction, he continued.
Listening tours give physicians a voice
One of the biggest lessons Atlantic Health has taken away from its well-being journey is listening to physicians and following through with transparency, said Dr. Washington.
Early efforts began with surveying doctors about burnout and examining retention trends, including the cost of physician turnover. But the work quickly evolved into something more direct. Before the COVID-19 public health emergency, Atlantic Health launched listening tours across the organization, training physicians to be facilitators.
That feedback became the foundation for action.
“The most important thing we did was take the data, distill it, and give it back to clinicians,” Dr. Washington said.
This kind of follow-through is critical to maintaining engagement. The physicians wanted that feedback—they wanted to know what came out of the surveys and the work, she said.
To ensure consistency, the organization formalized its approach. It put together a roadshow with standardized slides to share results across the system. To do this successfully, the work has to be structured and intentional, Dr. Washington emphasized.
She also stressed the importance of grounding the work in evidence from the start.
“We did a lot of reading and pulled together a lot of resources,” Dr. Washington said, noting that Atlantic Health partnered with its hospital librarians early on to conduct a comprehensive literature search.
Taken together, the key is to be deliberate: Listen to physicians, share what you learn, and build your strategy on evidence. That’s what keeps people engaged and moves the work forward, she advised.
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 health care today. Explore a variety of innovative, physician-developed resources designed to help prevent physician burnout, optimize workflows, improve well-being and enhance patient care.
