AMA and Atalan launch collaboration to advance physician retention research

CHICAGO - The American Medical Association (AMA) and Atalan today announced a new research collaboration focused on advancing understanding of the factors that influence physician retention across U.S. health systems.

The two organizations have agreed to combine resources and launch the PROGRESS Study (Physician Retention, Optimization, and Growth: Real-world Evidence and Sentiment Synthesis), a multi-site research initiative aimed at helping health systems better understand the conditions that support physician retention, workforce stability, and organizational success.

The study will combine physician-reported data collected through the AMA Organizational Biopsy^®-an assessment framework and suite of services that helps organizations strengthen culture, support physician well-being, and improve practice environments-with workforce and practice data contributed by participating organizations. Using Atalan's Clinician Retention Intelligence (CRI) platform, researchers will examine how physician perceptions align, or diverge, from day-to-day practice realities and identify factors associated with retention, patient access, and team performance.

"Physician retention is one of the most pressing challenges facing health systems today," said Tiffany Chan, CEO and Founder of Atalan. "This collaboration creates an opportunity to generate meaningful evidence on how physician experience relates to workforce retention and organizational performance at scale."

"Health systems increasingly recognize that physician well-being, workforce stability, patient access, and organizational performance are closely connected," said AMA President Willie Underwood III, MD, MSc, MPH. "By bringing together physician perspectives and objective practice data, the PROGRESS Study aims to deepen understanding of the factors that shape the physician experience and influence long-term organizational success."

The stakes for improving physician retention are high. Physician burnout remains a significant driver of turnover, creating challenges for patient access, workforce stability, and organizational performance. The AMA estimates that physician turnover can cost organizations between $500,000 and more than $1 million per physician when recruitment, onboarding, lost productivity, and related costs are considered.

Through the PROGRESS Study, the AMA and Atalan aim to generate evidence to better understand the drivers of physician retention and inform how health organizations support their clinical workforce.