The burnout rate among physicians in the United States has dropped, but there remains significant room for improvement, new data suggest. The burnout rate dropped modestly in 2017 from its peak in 2014. Current burnout rates are in line with 2011 levels.

The triennial study of physician burnout by researchers from the AMA, the Mayo Clinic and Stanford University School appears in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. While acknowledging progress reflected in the data, the American Medical Association (AMA) warns that more needs to be done to reduce physician burnout and is calling on leaders in the health care system to remain focused on driving research, interventions, workflow and teamwork enhancements, policy changes and technology improvements. 

The study finds that 43.9 percent of US physicians exhibited at least one symptom of burnout in 2017, compared with 54.4 percent in 2014 and 45.5 percent in 2011. In comparison, the overall prevalence of burnout among US workers was 28.1 percent in 2017, similar to levels found in 2014 (28.4 percent) and 2011 (28.6 percent).

Since 2012, the AMA has led the national conversation on the physician burnout crisis and advocated for new thinking and solutions that acknowledge physicians cannot solve the crisis on their own. The emerging consensus that has developed among health care leaders recognizes that wide-spanning change in the culture of medicine needs to emphasize physician well-being, the association says.