AMA cost analysis examines primary care physician turnover

CHICAGO — Nearly $1 billion in annual excess healthcare expenditure are due to turnover of primary care physicians, and work-related burnout is a significant driver of those costs, according to a new AMA-led study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

The new analysis found that job turnover in the primary care physician workforce leads to an additional $979 million in annual excess health care costs across the U.S. population, with $260 million (27%) attributable to burnout. The cost analysis is based on a pre-pandemic annual turnover estimate of 11,339 primary care physicians. Out of the total annual estimate, burnout-related turnover was estimated to impact 3006 primary care physicians.