Statewide improvement approach to clinician burnout: Findings from the baseline year

Wellbeing of the healthcare workforce is now recognized as an important fourth component of the Quadruple Aim. Given the crisis level of burnout in physicians, national organizations have urged immediate attention to the challenge, demanding measurement and action to mitigate and prevent the phenomenon.

Seeking to understand whether a statewide approach to burnout would be feasible, Minnesota launched a collaborative to assess and establish an action framework around physician and advanced practice professional (APP) burnout in 2016. A modified Mini Z survey tool was used to assess prevalence and drivers of burnout across a census of physicians and APPs from healthcare organizations across Minnesota.

Three-quarters of healthcare systems in Minnesota participated (56 sites/systems, representing 104 unique hospitals). Of the 13,693 physicians and APPs invited, 43% responded. Baseline levels of burnout suggest emotional exhaustion and stress are slightly higher among physicians than APPs; 34% of statewide respondents reported emotional exhaustion – 36% of MD/DOs and 31% of APPs. Approximately three in five respondents reported feeling a great deal of stress because of their job. Conversely, over three-quarters of respondents reported being satisfied with their job and engaged with their work.

We propose a socio-ecological framework for acting on burnout, using a data-driven quality improvement paradigm enabled by a statewide coalition, to ensure that continued efforts do not rest solely at the feet of individuals or systems. Despite high burnout levels, engagement and satisfaction with work are also high, suggesting there is still hope for stemming the tide of burnout.