What Can Patient Safety Teach Us About Clinician Burnout?
Authors: Albert W. Wu, Victor J. Dzau
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2019)

Ideas and Opinions17 December 2019What Can Patient Safety Teach Us About Clinician Burnout?Albert W. Wu, MD, MPH and Victor J. Dzau, MDAlbert W. Wu, MD, MPHJohns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland (A.W.W.) and Victor J. Dzau, MDNational Academy of Medicine, Washington, DC (V.J.D.)Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/M19-2397 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail In the 20 years since the Institute of Medicine released To Err Is Human, research has taught us much about factors that influence patient safety and about ways to effectively intervene (1). During the same period, clinician burnout has emerged as a new challenge for health care organizations and practitioners (2). Understanding of the factors that contribute to burnout and the wide-reaching adverse consequences for both clinicians and patients is growing (3, 4). Clinician burnout compromises patient safety, and both share common elements, including the role of individuals and other underlying causes (4, 5). This leads us to ask, can ...References1. Gandhi TK, Kaplan GS, Leape L, et al. Transforming concepts in patient safety: a progress report. BMJ Qual Saf. 2018;27:1019-1026. [PMID: 30018115] doi:10.1136/bmjqs-2017-007756 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Shanafelt TD, Boone S, Tan L, et al. Burnout and satisfaction with work-life balance among US physicians relative to the general US population. Arch Intern Med. 2012;172:1377-85. [PMID: 22911330] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Brigham T, Barden C, Dopp AL, et al. A journey to construct an all-encompassing conceptual model of factors affecting clinician well-being and resilience. Accessed at https://nam.edu/journey-construct-encompassing-conceptual-model-factors-affecting-clinician-well-resilience on 16 September 2019. Google Scholar4. Salyers MP, Bonfils KA, Luther L, et al. The relationship between professional burnout and quality and safety in healthcare: a meta-analysis. J Gen Intern Med. 2017;32:475-482. [PMID: 27785668] doi:10.1007/s11606-016-3886-9 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. National Academy of Medicine. Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience. Accessed at https://nam.edu/initiatives/clinician-resilience-and-well-being on 16 September 2019. Google Scholar6. Panagioti M, Panagopoulou E, Bower P, et al. Controlled interventions to reduce burnout in physicians: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Intern Med. 2017;177:195-205. [PMID: 27918798] doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.7674 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar7. Linzer M, Levine R, Meltzer D, et al. 10 bold steps to prevent burnout in general internal medicine [Editorial]. J Gen Intern Med. 2014;29:18-20. [PMID: 24002633] doi:10.1007/s11606-013-2597-8 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar8. American Medical Association. STEPS Forward. Professional Well-Being. Accessed at https://edhub.ama-assn.org/steps-forward/pages/professional-well-being on 16 September 2019. Google Scholar9. Pronovost PJ, Berenholtz SM, Needham DM. Translating evidence into practice: a model for large scale knowledge translation. BMJ. 2008;337:a1714. [PMID: 18838424] doi:10.1136/bmj.a1714 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar10. Shanafelt T, Goh J, Sinsky C. The business case for investing in physician well-being. JAMA Intern Med. 2017;177:1826-1832. [PMID: 28973070] doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2017.4340 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland (A.W.W.)National Academy of Medicine, Washington, DC (V.J.D.)Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M19-2397.Corresponding Author: Albert W. Wu, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Services and Outcomes Research, 624 North Broadway, Room 653, Baltimore, MD 21205; e-mail, [email protected]edu.Current Author Addresses: Dr. Wu: Johns Hopkins Center for Health Services and Outcomes Research, 624 North Broadway, Room 653, Baltimore, MD 21205.Dr. Dzau: National Academy of Medicine, 500 5th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20001.Author Contributions: Conception and design: A.W. Wu, V.J. Dzau.Drafting of the article: A.W. Wu, V.J. Dzau.Critical revision for important intellectual content: A.W. Wu, V.J. Dzau.Final approval of the article: A.W. Wu, V.J. Dzau.This article was published at Annals.org on 10 December 2019. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited byReply Physician Tolerance of Uncertainty 17 December 2019Volume 171, Issue 12Page: 933-934KeywordsAdverse eventsDisclosureHealth careHealth care quality assessmentMedical servicesMotivationResearch quality assessmentRisk managementSafetyVision ePublished: 10 December 2019 Issue Published: 17 December 2019 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2019 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...