Burnout Among Behavioral Health Providers in Integrated Care Settings

Introduction: Burnout in health care, especially among physicians, is a growing concern. It is now well accepted that physician burnout leads to increased depersonalization of patients, lower personal accomplishment, employee turnover, and worse patient outcomes. What is not known, however, is to what extent behavioral health providers (BHPs) in medical settings experience burnout and its associated sequela. Method: Participants (n = 230) from a variety of practice settings and levels of integrated care completed practice and burnout questions via an online survey. Practice-related questions and a modified version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory was administered to BHPs who work in different levels of collaboration with other medical providers. Results: Overall, BHPs who work primarily in fully integrated care settings reported higher rates of personal accomplishment in their everyday job (B = 1.49; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.40, 2.58). Additionally, those who have worked more than 10 years in these types of settings reported both higher personal accomplishment (B = 1.58; 95% CI = 0.68, 2.49) and lower rates of depersonalization (B = 1.32; 95% CI = -2.28, -0.36). Discussion: In contrast to high rates of burnout among many-clinicians in the United States, this is the first study to document relatively low rates of reported burnout among integrated care BHPs. The relationships between lower burnout, working in a fully integrated care practice, and experience as a BHP is important to understand when creating and sustaining team-based primary care jobs.