How One California Medical Group Is Decreasing Physician Burnout

Physician burnout is a growing problem for all health care systems in the United States. Burned-out physicians deliver lower quality care, reduce their hours, or stop practicing, reducing access to care around the country. Primary care physicians are particularly vulnerable: They have some of the highest burnout rates of any medical discipline. As part of the authors’ work researching high-performing primary care systems, they discovered a system-wide approach launched by Southern California Permanente Medical Group in 2004 that unburdens primary care physicians. They believe the program – Complete Care – may be a viable model for other institutions looking to decrease burnout or increase physician satisfaction. It has four core elements. 1) It had specialties share accountability for preventative and chronic care services with primary care physicians. 2) It transferred tasks from physicians – not just those in primary care – to non-physicians so physicians could spend their time doing tasks only they could do and everyone was working at the top of his or her license. 3) It leveraged technology — for instance, information technologies that allowed patients to schedule visits from mobile apps, access online personalized plans, and manage complex schedules (e.g., the steps prior to a kidney transplant). 4) It standardized work processes — in particular, workflows.