Upstate Medical University: Upstate Joins Leading Health Care Organizations In Making Commitment To Physician Well-Being

Syracuse NY

20 April, 2022

3:17 PM

Description

Press release from Upstate Medical University: April 14, 2022 Upstate Medical University is taking another step forward in its commitment to physician well-being by signing onto a new charter created by the Collaborative for Health and Renewal in Medicine (CHARM). Leslie Kohman, MD, Upstate's chief wellness officer, said CHARM is a collaboration of medical educators, leaders in academic medicine, and experts in burnout research and intervention working together to promote well-being among trainees and practicing physicians. The charter project is supported by a grant from the Arnold P. Gold Foundation. Upstate joins more than 60 healthcare organizations and associations across the country that have committed to adopt the CHARM Charter principles, which are: Some other organizations that have also adopted CHARM include the Mayo Clinic, Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and the University of Rochester Medical Center. Kohman, who was named chief wellness officer in 2020, said signing onto the charter will have several benefits. "I think No. 1 it helps the general Upstate community to understand that we acknowledge these problems and are dedicated to doing what we can," she said. "I also hope it will stimulate more resources to be applied to the effort. Physician wellness leads to team wellness which leads to quality of care. Your quality will go down if your well-being is down." Kohman said Upstate began the discussion of the importance of physician wellness in 2017 and identified four objectives toward that end. The four objectives were to get voice recognition software to make entering medical records faster and simpler, to appoint a chief wellness officer, to get a product by which to measure wellness, and to get collaboration space for medical staff. She said all four objectives were met in 2020. In October, Upstate earned a Joy in Medicine Bronze Award from the American Medical Association for this commitment. This press release was produced by Upstate Medical University. The views expressed here are the author's own.