From Burnout to Buy-In: Using Appreciative Inquiry to Build Engagement Within a Hospital Medicine Group

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Clinical Engagement Strategies
• Appreciative Inquiry in Medicine

Background:

• Poor frontline clinician engagement negatively impacts patient safety, quality of care, and contributes to burnout and attrition.
• Addressing clinician engagement is crucial for effective healthcare delivery and staff retention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement Appreciative Inquiry (Ai) to enhance engagement among hospitalists and physician associates (PAs).
• The study aimed to improve job satisfaction, retention, and professional development over a one-year period.

Main Methods:

• An interdisciplinary hospital medicine group of 47 hospitalists and PAs participated.
• A PA-Hospitalist Task Force utilized Ai, surveys, and focus groups to foster collaboration and empower clinicians.

Main Results:

• Participant engagement in focus groups was high: 74% of hospitalists and 84% of PAs.
• Interventions led to reported improvements in job satisfaction, professional development, motivation, and work meaning.
• Physician associate (PA) retention saw a 20% increase within one year.

Conclusions:

• Appreciative Inquiry (Ai) effectively enhances frontline clinician engagement in hospital medicine.
• The described methods are transferable to other practice settings and inter-professional teams.