Physician well-being work is often described as a priority. But at Henry Ford Health, Lisa MacLean, MD, made it clear that turning that priority into progress requires more than just good intentions. It requires having the physician well-being leader in the room when important decisions are being made.
“That champion for physician well-being should sit on a variety of leadership committees so that when discussions come up, they can bring in that wellness perspective,” said Dr. MacLean, a psychiatrist and chief clinical wellness officer for Henry Ford Health. “To get traction, you have to be seen and be part of many different conversations across the system.”
That idea sits at the heart of Henry Ford Health’s approach to this ongoing work at the system level. Physician well-being, in Dr. MacLean’s view, should not be treated as a side narrative or an isolated program. It must be embedded in the places where strategy, operations and culture are shaped.
Henry Ford 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.
Bring a well-being lens to decision-making
For Dr. MacLean, being in those rooms where decisions are made means more than just visibility. It means making sure physician well-being is considered when leaders talk about the systems, tools and workflows that affect doctors on a daily basis.
One important example is Dr. MacLean's work on the provider advisory council at Henry Ford Health where leaders regularly review issues related to the EHR. That work gives her a chance to ask how a proposed change might affect how physicians feel about their work and whether it will make patient care easier or harder.
The provider advisory council is “constantly reviewing what we’re doing with Epic, which is a really great space for the well-being champion to bring up that perspective,” she said.
That point is especially important for health systems working to reduce the administrative burdens that contribute to physician burnout. Well-being leaders can help connect the operational details of practice to the larger goal of supporting physicians in their daily work.
The AMA provides organizational well-being solutions to guide physicians and health systems on developing and implementing strategies to optimize practice efficiencies, reduce burnout, and rediscover the Joy in Medicine®.
Make physician well-being visible across the system
At Henry Ford Health, that work extends well beyond one committee, though. Dr. MacLean described it as a broad leadership presence that includes annual presentations to the Board of Governors, service on the chair’s council, participation on the Medical Executive Committee and presentations to the Board of Trustees.
She also explained that the CEO of the Henry Ford Medical Group has supported the work by highlighting major achievements in physician well-being in a monthly newsletter sent to staff. Enterprise-wide communications, such as the system’s daily email newsletter and the CEO monthly newsletter have also helped to elevate physician well-being efforts and successes across the organization.
Those touchpoints all show how physician well-being can become more visible when leadership supports it and when the person leading the work has access to multiple spaces. That support, according to Dr. MacLean, has helped move physician well-being from a niche concern to a systemwide focus area.
Build relationships that open doors
Dr. MacLean, who moved into her current role in 2017, also stressed that having a seat at the table does not always happen automatically. “It took time for me to get myself into those spaces,” she said. “It helped that I was known within my organization for breaking down barriers, but to get traction, you have to be seen and be part of many different conversations.”
Dr. MacLean also described the need for people in these roles to be “creative and scrappy,” to understand where their voice is needed and to ask for the opportunity to be in those rooms.
While support from the top does matter, so does the willingness to speak up, build relationships and connect well-being goals to broader organizational priorities. One example is the system's goal of becoming a trauma-informed organization. While another leader spearheaded the initiative, Dr. MacLean was involved from the beginning and helped guide the work.
According to Dr. MacLean, she has been fortunate to work in an environment where leaders have supported her efforts, noting that “the system has really supported me in being in a variety of different spaces.”
Turn support into traction
Dr. MacLean attributes progress on new initiatives to the flow of support inside Henry Ford Health. Rather than framing physician well-being as something she has to push alone, the work succeeds because the organization is engaged from the top while she continues advocating from within.
“They’re pushing down and I’m pushing up, and the two shall meet,” she said.
That dynamic helps explain why having a seat at the table matters. When a physician well-being leader is involved in leadership discussions at every level, it becomes easier to align executive priorities with the realities physicians face on a daily basis. It also helps organizations spot opportunities earlier, whether the issue involves workflows, team culture, measurement or communication.
In other words, presence creates traction, and well-being work gains force when it is not something leaders hear about after a decision is made, but something that informs the decision itself.
Treat well-being as strategic work
Henry Ford Health’s experience offers a practical lesson for other health systems: Physician well-being leaders are most effective when their work is seen as strategic, not peripheral. That means giving these leaders visibility across the system, inviting them into key conversations and recognizing that their perspective has value in spaces far beyond traditional well-being programming.
For Dr. MacLean, the lesson is clear: If organizations want physician well-being efforts to gain traction, the leader doing that work needs access to the conversations shaping the practice environment. A seat at the table is not symbolic. It is how the work moves forward in a meaningful way.
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.
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