A Quality Improvement Initiative to Reduce Pediatrician Burnout Led by the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Internal Medicine and Pediatrics (Med-Peds)

Physician burnout impacts care (of self and patient), productivity, longevity of career, and overall cost to the system. While burnout rates for pediatricians are lower than average, they have not improved significantly over time. While strategies at the system level have been more successful than those at the individual level, both aspects are vital. This quality improvement study explores physician wellness and burnout trends of a sample population of pediatricians at the 2018 and 2019 AAP National Conference and Exhibition (NCE), using the Physician Health and Wellness Booth (PHWB). A rapid cycle approach with the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) framework was utilized. The aim was to observe if reported burnout decreased by 20% over six months. Of the pediatricians who interacted with the PHWB, 56 were randomly selected to participate. This included men and women and those in various practice settings, ranging from resident physicians to providers in practice for over 20 years. Baseline surveys included elements from a modified Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Stanford Physician Wellness Survey, focusing on burnout components (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and fulfillment) and wellness activities. Individual-based interventions were provided at the PHWB, including adult preventative health guidelines, resources on sleep, stress mitigation, and complementary medicine. Participants received a movie ticket and Starbucks gift card. Follow-up included six monthly newsletters with strategies from seven wellness domains. Post-intervention surveys at six months assessed all baseline questions plus the effectiveness of monthly newsletters. A second PDCA cycle was conducted from the 2019 NCE. All individual-based interventions continued with an added aromatherapy oil station. Additional system-based resources included sample institutional wellness initiatives and burnout cost analyses, all focusing on advocating for cultural change at their respective home organizations. Interactive monthly wellness calendars addressing seven wellness domains were emailed for six months follow-up. Results from 10 post-intervention surveys (10/56=18% of respondents) from the initial cohort reported an average of 25% decrease in burnout (p=0.09). This was measured on a scale of 1-10 (from “never” burned out to “very often”) and improved from 6.68 (“sometimes” to “often” burned out) to 5.0 (“rarely” to “sometimes” burned out). Results from Cohort 2 reflected a decrease in burnout from 4.94 (“rarely” to “sometimes” burned out) to 2.85 (“never” to “rarely” burned out) in return from 20 post-intervention surveys (20/48=42% of respondents, p=0.003). Participants noted a lack of control over work schedules and a disconnect with organizational values as drivers of burnout. Both the PHWB and monthly newsletters were rated as valuable as reminders about wellness practices. Limitations included low response rate, which was notable, and inability to prove causation of improvement from our intervention. Future steps include utilizing subject identification numbers to allow for anonymity in a prospective cohort study with a third PDCA cycle. This would allow anonymous but matched same-subject comparison of pre- and post-survey results despite the small sample size. Follow-up incentives could be beneficial. Lastly, data from both cohorts revealed the highest level of burnout in early career physicians within 10 years of training, paving an opportunity for future study.