Striking Wellbeing Gold: Prestigious AMA Recognition for URochester Medicine
URochester Medicine is one of the first two health systems in New York—and one of just 21 nationwide—to achieve gold status in the American Medical Association’s Joy in Medicine® program.
The designation, announced Wednesday, celebrates institutions that use proven methods to enhance professional fulfillment among physicians and recognizes leaders in the national effort to address the root causes of burnout among care teams.
“This Joy in Medicine recognition does not mean we have ‘solved’ burnout,” said Craig Rooney, PhD, chief wellbeing officer. “It does mean we are working on the significant drivers of occupational distress. This designation is the starting line, not the finish line. The application gave us the opportunity to highlight exceptional work happening across the institution and to share the story of our enterprise commitment to workplace wellbeing.”
Northwell Health was the only other New York institution to receive gold status, the highest of three recognition levels.
“The AMA Joy in Medicine Gold recognition is truly reflective of our broad institutional priority on improving workplace wellbeing,” said URMC CEO and SMD Dean David Linehan, MD. "Under the direction of Craig Rooney, the Office of Wellbeing is inspiring our organization to define workplace wellbeing in terms of concrete and specific organizational improvements that will help us achieve our vision of making this the best place to work, innovate, learn and heal.”
The AMA based its designation on URochester Medicine’s work in five areas:
Wellbeing assessments
Organizational commitment
Efficiency of practice.
Leadership
Support for physicians and care teams.
URochester Medicine’s work in these areas is wide-ranging, Rooney said. Noteworthy efforts include:
Using data from several rounds of wellbeing assessments to inform a variety of projects. Next year, URochester Medicine will move to a new assessment offered through the Physician Well-being Academic Consortium (PWAC) administered by Stanford University. Joining the consortium gives URochester Medicine access to new assessment tools and the opportunity to collaborate with other academic health systems.
Extensive partnerships between the Office of Wellbeing and Clinical Informatics that have facilitated studies of electronic medical record efficiency metrics, including work patterns, length of documentation, time in Inbox, same-day appointments closed, and message profiles. This work and other initiatives contributed to several reductions in administrative burden via the use of Imprivata One-Tap Single Sign On, the removal of auto-routing of CCed charts to primary care physicians, and a Smart Form initiative to reduce oncologists’ time in prior authorization. Additionally, the introduction and study of DAX ambient AI informed the decision to extend DAX licenses for clinicians in ambulatory service lines.
“My team has been committed to looking at our work through a wellbeing lens for a long time,” said Rosemary Ventura, DNP, RN, NI-BC, chief clinical informatics officer, “and we’re excited to continue our efforts with the Office of Wellbeing. The AMA Joy in Medicine program is a good roadmap for tackling provider burnout.”
An increasingly robust suite of physician-support services, including EAP/BHP, Psychiatry’s Coaching and Communication Program, Academic Affairs’ UR Mentor Lab, the Clinical Ethics Program Consultation Service, Quality and Safety Initiatives, the Mindful Practice in Medicine Program, and community-building programs embedded in the Office of Wellbeing. A more complete list of resources is available here.
“URochester Medicine’s creation of an Office of Wellbeing with a chief wellbeing officer at an executive leadership level, its work to share wellbeing metrics across the enterprise, and ongoing strategic planning for the development and direction of Office of Wellbeing programs and services puts us ahead of many of our peers nationwide, which is reflected in our gold designation,” Rooney said. “Given support from our Dean/CEO and the highest levels of the organization, we were able to show strong organizational commitment. Wellbeing has a seat at the table for key decisions. This recognition spans both historical and current efforts, and we continue to relentlessly carry the torch forward into the future.”
Rooney attributed the Gold designation to the work of many people—including members of his team and numerous members of the clinical informatics team—and noted that it’s a recognition for the entire organization, not just the Office of Wellbeing.
Wellbeing First
URochester Medicine has again received a Wellbeing First Champion designation from the Dr. Lorna Breen Foundation.
Named for a New York City physician who died by suicide at the height of the COVID pandemic, the Dr. Lorna Breen Foundation recognizes health systems that have removed any intrusive questions about mental health treatment or substance abuse from their credentialing forms.
URochester Medicine received its initial Wellbeing First designation in 2025. Read more about the work that led to our designation here (VPN or sign-in required).