CHICAGO — The American Medical Association (AMA) today established guardrails in the use of personal and biological data to enhance professional wellbeing and to reduce burnout in physicians and other health care professionals.
Prompted by high incidence of physician burnout, physicians and medical students at the AMA Annual Meeting voted to adopt guardrails for the collection, use and protection of personal and biological data obtained to improve professional workforce wellbeing.
“The management of such sensitive information raises significant privacy, security and ethical concerns that should be carefully addressed to ensure the rights and interests of individuals are protected,” said AMA Board Member David J. Welsh, M.D., M.B.A. “Individual health history and biological data can provide valuable insights into physical and mental health. The collection and use of this data offers the possibility of supporting the wellbeing of healthcare professionals, including early identification of burnout and developing prevention strategies, so they can best care for patients.”
The AMA guardrails for the collection of physician data emphasize transparency, consent, and limited use to burnout reduction efforts:
- With the aim of promoting physician well-being in the workplace, physician personal health information and/or biological data should be:
- Collected only if evidence supports that the specific data being collected is minimized to only that which is relevant and necessary to the development of interventions which promote physician well-being and reduce professional burnout;
- Collected only if physicians are informed whether the data is directly or indirectly identifiable;
- Collected only if physicians have the ability to opt-in or opt-out without retribution, penalty or direct or indirect coercion;
- Collected only if physicians are able to provide informed consent prior to data acquisition and use;
- Collected only if physicians retain the option to opt-out at any time;
- Used only to ameliorate burnout-inducing working conditions.
- Any use of physician personal health information or biological data that is retaliatory or that perpetuates unjust biases should be avoided and prohibited.
- Any entity that collects physician personal health information or biological data must have transparent policies and procedures for secure data storage as well as its storage duration and deletion protocols.
Since 2012, the AMA has led the national conversation on solving the physician burnout crisis and advocated for new solutions that acknowledge that physicians need support, system reforms, and burden reduction.
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About the American Medical Association
The American Medical Association is the physicians’ powerful ally in patient care. As the only medical association that convenes 190+ state and specialty medical societies and other critical stakeholders, the AMA represents physicians with a unified voice to all key players in health care. The AMA leverages its strength by removing the obstacles that interfere with patient care, leading the charge to prevent chronic disease and confront public health crises and, driving the future of medicine to tackle the biggest challenges in health care.
