Burnout has been a pervasive challenge in healthcare for years, hitting record high levels among physicians in 2021, when nearly 63% reported experiencing at least one symptom of burnout. New survey data from the American Medical Association suggests progress is being made, with physician burnout rates falling below 50% for the first time in four years.
In 2023, 48.2% of physicians said they experienced burnout, according to the findings released July 2. Last year, the AMA received more than 12,400 responses from physicians at 81 health systems and organizations who participated in the group's Organizational Biopsy — an assessment tool health systems use to measure the operational effectiveness and well-being of their physicians. The AMA pulls data from there into a national physician comparison report.
Trends from the report show burnout rates have progressively fallen since 2021.
"This is moving in the right direction," Nancy Nankivil, director of organizational well-being at the AMA, said in a blog post about the latest data, adding there is variation in key indicators of physician wellness across organizations. "Some of the variables include demographic factors, such as specialty, gender or years in practice."
Three more findings on the state of physician well-being and job satisfaction:
- Job satisfaction increased from 68% in 2022 to 72.1% in 2023.
- The survey findings indicated positive movement in job-related stress levels: Last year, 50.7% reported a high level of stress related to their job, down from nearly 56% in 2022. Not having enough physicians and support staff was a top source of stress.
- Last year, 50.4% of physicians said they felt their organizations value them to a great or moderate extent, up from about 46% in 2022.