The American Medical Association (AMA) has announced an escalation in its efforts to fight the root causes of physician burnout and dissatisfaction by launching the Practice Transformation Initiative.

An AMA announcement says "The new course of action strengthens the AMA's resolve to advance evidence-based solutions that increase joy in medicine."

Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH AMA board chair, said "Since 2013, the AMA has been leading the national conversation on physician burnout with innovative research and bold advocacy aimed at removing obstacles and burdens that contribute to symptoms of burnout in 44 percent of physicians.

"While AMA efforts to date have increased awareness of the physician burnout crisis at all levels and driven positive change, there is an immediate need for transformational solutions."

An AMA news release stated, "While the frequency, causes and impact of professional fatigue and burnout among physicians have been well researched, actionable solutions have had much less rigorous analysis. As a result, information on effective interventions remains limited. The mission of the Practice Transformation Initiative is to fill the knowledge gaps regarding effective interventions to reduce burnout.

"To make physician burnout a thing of the past, the initiative will support research and advance evidence-based solutions by collaborating with organizations who are committed to the practice transformation journey. Participating health systems and practices will take on improving joy in medicine by using validated assessment tools to measure burnout; field-testing interventions that are designed to improve workflows, applying practice science research methodology to evaluate impact and sharing best practices within an AMA facilitated learning community."