AAPL Summer Academies Open in Chicago

The event includes a workshop on physician wellness, a panel discussion on CMO-CNO dyad models, and leadership courses to help foster personal and organizational transformation.

There is no denying the cost burnout takes on physicians and their patients, or on organizations and their bottom lines. And yet some physician leaders and organizations won’t address the issue even though it’s less costly to do so early.

“Some organizations are paralyzed by fear of the unknown,” says Dian Ginsberg, director of career services at the American Association for Physician Leadership. Burnout, she says, is that kind of unknown. “They may talk about it — kind of under their breath, acknowledging that it exists — but may not be willing to rip the bandage off and look at the wound.”

The issue received attention in April, when a paper by the National Taskforce on Humanity in Healthcare suggested the annual aggregate cost of burnout of U.S. physicians is about $17 billion — and an additional $9 billion for nurses. It further suggests that the syndrome should be viewed less as a personal psychological failing and more as an acknowledgement of a distressed system.

Physician leaders get a chance to dive deeper into the subject during the Physician Wellness Academy, part of the American Association for Physician Leadership’s Summer Academies, which runs Friday through Sunday (July 20-22) at the JW Marriott hotel in Chicago, Illinois.

The wellness academy is one of three educational offerings at the event, which also includes a panel discussion on dyadic leadership, a presentation on patient care, and, of course, networking opportunities.

The Physician Wellness Academy, on Friday and Saturday, will provide personal and organizational insight into the burnout issue, allowing physician leaders to have lasting impact by transforming their organization’s culture and enhancing the lives of those they work with.

The academy will be led by Daniel Friedland, MD, founder and CEO of SuperSmartHealth, and Dan Diamond, MD, founder and director of the nation’s first state-affiliated medical disaster response team. They will provide education and “tool kits” — templates, worksheets and resources — developed to help participants identify and address organizational wellness barriers.

The Summer Academies also include a pair of three-day courses for physician leaders:

• Chief Medical Officer Academy, with instruction on health care management and leadership skills through CME-eligible courses. Instructors are Hugh Long, MBA, PhD, JD, and Mark Covaleski, PhD, CPA.

• Techniques of Financial Decision Making, with insight into budgeting, cost management and investments in short- and long-term goals. Instructors are Jonathan Burroughs, MD, MBA, CPE, FACPE, and Richard Priore, ScD, MHA, FACHE, FACMPE.

Outside the classroom, a panel of clinical leaders will share their organizational experiences on what it takes to form and sustain a successful dyad. The panel, “Interprofessional CMO-CNO Dyad Models Enhance Patient Care Delivery,” is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Friday, during the lunch break in Grand Ballroom B, on the second floor of the hotel.

Scheduled panelists include:

• Peter Angood, MD, FRCS(C), FACS, MCCM, president and CEO of AAPL.

• Jay Bhatt, DO, MPH, MA, FACP; CMO and senior vice president of American Hospital Association.

• Kathy Sanford, DMA, RN, FACHE, FAAN, senior vice president and chief nursing officer with Catholic Health Initiatives.

• Robert Weil, MD, senior vice president and chief medical officer with Catholic Health Initiatives.

• Napoleon Knight, MD, MBA, FACEP, FAAPL; medical director with Rural Alliance for Health Care Excellence for Carle Health System, and former board chair for AAPL.

A reception for attendees is scheduled Friday at 5:30 a.m. in the hotel’s Grand Foyer.

Attendees also are invited to a lunchtime presentation Saturday, titled “Medicine, Health Care and Caring: Every Patient, Every Time,” presented by Jeffrey S. Guy, MD, MS, MMHC, vice president for clinical services with HCA in Nashville, Tennessee. Guy’s presentation is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. in Grand Ballroom B.

Members should visit their leadership dashboard to claim credit and RSVP to special event activities.