The American Medical Association (AMA) recognized 44 health care organizations as recipients of the 2021 Joy in MedicineTM Health System Recognition Program. The AMA distinction recognizes health systems with a demonstrated commitment to preserving the well-being of health care team members by engaging in proven efforts to combat work-related stress and burnout.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has placed extraordinary stress on physicians and other health care professionals,” said AMA President Gerald E. Harmon, M.D. “While it is always important for health systems to focus on the well-being of care teams, the imperative is greater than ever as acute stress from combatting the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to higher rates of work overload, anxiety, and depression. The health systems we recognize today are true leaders in promoting an organizational response that makes a difference in the lives of the health care workforce.”
A national study examining the experiences of physicians and other health care workers who worked in health care systems during the COVID-19 pandemic found that 38% self-reported experiencing anxiety or depression, while 43% suffered from work overload and 49% had burnout.
Candidates for the Joy in Medicine Health System Recognition Program were evaluated according to their documented efforts to reduce work-related burnout through system level drivers. Scoring criteria was based on demonstrated competencies in commitment, assessment, leadership, efficiency of practice environment, teamwork, and support.
“Practicing medicine can be tremendously rewarding but it is also demanding and at times emotionally exhausting,” explained Dr. Sam Bagchi, CHRISTUS Health’s Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer. “Addressing burnout is our moral responsibility. We can support our employed physicians and clinical partners by understanding burnout contributors, the consequences and do right by them by coming up with real solutions. At CHRISTUS, we are focused on relentlessly gathering input from our clinicians and making our care environment easier to practice in for our physicians.”
CHRISTUS Physician Group now known across the CHRISTUS Health System as CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic joins a list of other prestigious national health systems as recipients of the 2021 Joy of Medicine Health System Recognition Program
Launched in 2019, the Joy in Medicine Health System Recognition Program is a component of the AMA’s practice transformation efforts, an ambitious initiative to advance evidence-based solutions that fill the knowledge gap in effective solutions to the physician burnout crisis.
“The recognition program offers a roadmap to guide health system leaders who are interested, engaged and committed in efforts to fight the root causes of burnout in the health care workforce,” said AMA Vice President of Professional Satisfaction Christine Sinsky, M.D. “The 44 health systems recognized this year by the AMA are creating momentum in the health care community for a united commitment to wide-spanning change in the culture of medicine that emphasizes professional well-being in health care.
The AMA continues to work on every front to address the physician burnout crisis. Through our research, collaborations, advocacy and leadership, the AMA is working to make the patient‐ physician relationship more valued than paperwork, preventive care the focus of the future, technology an asset and not a burden, and physician burnout a thing of the past.
The recipients of 2021 Joy in Medicine Health System Recognition Program are listed at https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/press-releases/ama-recognizes-health-systems-care caregivers.
