• Eric A Apaydin, David C Mohr, Alison B Hamilton, Danielle E Rose, Sally Haskell, and Elizabeth M Yano.
• Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation and Policy, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA, USA. eric.apaydin@va.gov.
• J Gen Intern Med. 2022 Aug 1; 37 (10): 238223892382-2389.

BackgroundAlthough they are a minority of patients served by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), women Veterans comprise a fast-growing segment of these patients and have unique clinical needs. Women's health primary care providers (WH-PCPs) are specially trained and designated to provide care for women Veterans. Prior work has demonstrated that WH-PCPs deliver better preventative care and have more satisfied patients than PCPs without the WH designation. However, due to unique clinical demands or other factors, WH-PCPs may experience more burnout and intent to leave practice than general PCPs in the VHA.ObjectiveTo examine differences in burnout and intent to leave practice among WH and general PCPs in the VHA.DesignMulti-level logistic regression analysis of three cross-sectional waves of PCPs within the VHA using the national All Employee Survey and practice data (2017-2019). We modeled outcomes of burnout and intent to leave practice as a function of WH provider designation, gender, and other demographics and practice characteristics, such as support staff ratio, panel size, and setting.ParticipantsA total of 7903 primary care providers (5152 general PCPs and 2751 WH-PCPs; response rates: 63.9%, 65.7%, and 67.5% in 2017, 2018, and 2019, respectively).Main MeasuresBurnout and intent to leave practice.Key ResultsWH-PCPs were more burned out than general PCPs (unadjusted: 55.0% vs. 46.9%, p<0.001; adjusted: OR=1.29, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.10-1.55) but did not have a higher intention to leave (unadjusted: 33.4% vs. 32.1%, p=0.27; adjusted: OR=1.07, CI 0.81-1.41). WH-PCPs with intentions to leave were more likely to select the response option of "job-related (e.g., type of work, workload, burnout, boredom)" as their primary reason to leave.ConclusionsBurnout is higher among WH-PCPs compared to general PCPs, even after accounting for provider and practice characteristics. More research on causes of and solutions for these differences in burnout is needed.© 2021. This is a U.S. government work and not under copyright protection in the U.S.; foreign copyright protection may apply.

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