Prevalence of burnout in private practice radiology leaders

Rationale and objectives: To evaluate prevalence and demographic factors associated with both burnout and fulfillment of private practice radiologist leaders within the United States. Materials and methods: The study cohort was the largest coalition of wholly radiologist owned, independently practicing radiology groups within the United States. Two designated leaders within each of the 30 radiology private practices within the organization Strategic Radiology were electronically mailed a weblink to a confidential IRB-approved survey in July 2021. Surveys included questions from the Stanford Professional Fulfillment Index, individual and practice demographics, and self-care. Results: The overall response rate was 67% (40/60). Fulfillment and burnout scores were calculated from the individual questions, and radiologists were classified as being fulfilled or not and burned out or not based upon score cutoffs previously validated from the Stanford Professional Fulfillment Index (PFI). The overall professional fulfillment rate of staff was 43% and the overall burnout rate was 33%. (Cronbach's α = 0.90 for fulfillment and 0.91 for burnout). The inverse correlation between professional fulfillment and burnout was highly significant (r = −0.42, p = 0.007). No statistically significant association was seen between either burnout or fulfillment and age, gender, ethnicity, practice geography or practice size. Conclusion: Utilizing the validated Stanford PFI for assessment, the prevalence of burnout in private practice radiologist leaders was 33%. The prevalence of professional fulfillment was 43%, with a mild inverse association between professional fulfillment and burnout. In private practice leaders, the prevalence of burnout was 33% and the prevalence of professional fulfillment was 43%.