Implementation and effectiveness of a physician-focused peer support program

• Published in: PloS one 2023-11, Vol.18 (11), p.e0292917-e0292917
• Main Authors: Tolins, Molly L, Rana, Jamal S, Lippert, Suzanne, LeMaster, Christopher, Kimura, Yusuke F, Sax, Dana R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biology and Life Sciences; Burn out (Psychology); Burnout; Care and treatment; Causes of; Confidentiality; COVID-19; Culture; Effectiveness; Emergency medical care; Engineering and Technology; Evaluation; Gynecology; Health aspects; Health care reform; Hospitalists; Hospitals; Infrastructure; Intensive care; Intervention; Market surveys; Maxillofacial surgery; Medical care; Medical referrals; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mental health; Obstetrics; Pandemics; Patient safety; Pediatrics; Peer tutoring; People and Places; Physicians; Practice; Quality management; Research and Analysis Methods; Social Sciences; Statistical methods; Stigma; Sustainability; Sustainable development; Third party; Well being
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0292917

The practice of medicine faces a mounting burnout crisis. Physician burnout leads to worse mental health outcomes, provider turnover, and decreased quality of care. Peer support, a viable strategy to combat burnout, has been shown to be well received by physicians. This study evaluates the Peer Outreach Support Team (POST) program, a physician-focused peer support initiative established in a 2-hospital system, using descriptive statistical methodologies. We evaluate the POST program using the Practical Robust Implementation and Sustainability Model (PRISM) framework to describe important contextual factors including characteristics of the intervention, recipients, implementation and sustainability infrastructure, and external environment, and to assess RE-AIM outcomes including reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance. This program successfully trained 59 peer supporters across 11 departments in a 2-hospital system over a 3-year period. Trained supporters unanimously felt the training was useful and aided in general departmental culture shift (100% of respondents). After 3 years, 48.5% of physician survey respondents across 5 active departments had had a peer support interaction, with 306 successful interactions recorded. The rate of interactions increased over the 3-year study period, and the program was adopted by 11 departments, representing approximately 60% of all physicians in the 2-hospital system. Important implementation barriers and facilitators were identified. Physician recipients of peer support reported improved well-being, decreased negative emotions and stigma, and perceived positive cultural changes within their departments. We found that POST, a physician-focused peer support program, had widespread reach and a positive effect on perceived physician well-being and departmental culture. This analysis outlines a viable approach to support physicians and suggests future studies considering direct effectiveness measures and programmatic adaptations. Our findings can inform and guide other healthcare systems striving to establish peer support initiatives to improve physician well-being.