Reversing The Trend: Physician And APP Engagement And Burnout

Coauthored by Milissa Eagle, MA, Director of Workforce Analytics, Press Ganey.

Employees, physicians, and advanced practice providers (APPs) are essential to delivering high-quality, error-free care. And when your people are engaged, they're more likely to go the extra mile, collaborate effectively, and stay with their organizations.

But recent data from Press Ganey shows that engagement is slipping-especially among physicians and APPs. We analyzed responses from 2.3 million healthcare workers and found that, while most roles saw a slight dip in engagement, physicians and APPs experienced sharper declines: -0.06 points among physicians, and -0.08 for APPs.*

These declines reflect a growing disconnect between clinicians and their organizations. As administrative burdens rise and autonomy wanes, many clinicians feel less aligned with their organization's direction, less heard in decision-making, and less supported by leadership. The result is a workforce that's increasingly disengaged, and at risk of burnout. Healthcare leaders should treat these declines as a call to recalibrate how they improve the physician and APP experience.

We'll go over the systemic causes of disengagement and burnout, and offer actionable strategies to reverse negative trends.

The connection between disengagement and burnout

Recent data from more than 43 organizations, and nearly 24,000 physician and APP respondents, paints a sobering picture-one that demands attention, empathy, and action. But it also reveals opportunities for improvement through targeted interventions and leadership support.

Burned-out clinicians are 7x more likely to be disengaged than their peers. Still, 47% of burned-out clinicians remain engaged or highly engaged in their work-suggesting that other factors beyond burnout also shape their experience.

Burnout can affect more than just the individual experiencing it. It compromises safety and quality. It's malignant enough to spike turnover, fracture team cohesion, and erode the patient experience. In short: Disengagement and burnout are systemic risks.

Causes of burnout among physicians and APPs

Burnout looks different for everyone, but there are some commonalities:

• Limited time: Not enough time to care for patients, and not enough time to decompress and recharge.
• Too much friction: Growing pressures around administrative tasks, and a lack of adequate staffing, support services, and tools/resources to provide care.
• Perception of leadership misalignment: When leaders don't reflect clinician priorities, provide adequate support, or maintain open feedback loops, clinicians can feel disconnected and undervalued.

These areas also overlap with other data we see-lack of time and too much friction are consistently lower-performing areas for physicians and APPs. Alignment with leadership is not only key in addressing burnout, but also critical in building engagement.

Alignment with leadership is not only key in addressing burnout, but also critical in building engagement.

Reversing burnout trends and impacting engagement along the way

Organizations that outperform on engagement and resilience (i.e., the ability to recover from stress and maintain performance under pressure) are also higher performers on the following areas, compared to their peers:

• Alignment with leadership: Strong relationships with leadership, where physician and APP voices are respected, listened to, and acted on.
• Prioritizing well-being: Policies and mechanisms that support physician and APP decompression and wellness.
• Including the front line in fixing frictions: Adequate staffing, tools, and resources that don't get in the way of providing high-quality patient care.
• Strong social capital: Cohesive relationships among physicians, nurses, and other medical personnel across units.

Press Ganey can help you address the root causes of burnout, and build cultures where clinicians are supported and empowered, so they thrive. Reach out to our employee experience experts for more information.

Footnote: *On a 5-point scale