Dr. Privitera is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), and was Medical Director, Medical Faculty and Clinician Wellness Program 2015-2022, which worked on individual and organizational interventions to reduce clinician burnout. For the last 12 years he has taken a biopsychosocial approach to understand how the organization/system effects on clinicians and patients can have shared mechanisms which influence risk of burnout, latent medical error and conditions for workplace violence. He received a Patient Safety Award in 2018 from his malpractice carrier MCIC. The goal of this project was to deliver Human Factor-Based Leadership (HFBL) curriculum that integrates patient safety and clinician wellbeing efforts by leadership understanding of basic human factors and ergonomics (HFE) science applied in healthcare systems. This project helped leaders identify and reduce latent conditions in healthcare systems that contribute to error and clinician burnout.

     He was Chair 2015-2019, MSSNY Task Force on Physician Stress and Burnout and stepped down to focus upon making better known the connection of clinician wellbeing to patient wellbeing. He currently Co-Chairs Monroe County Medical Society Wellness Committee. He edited a multiauthored text Workplace Violence in Mental and General Healthcare Settings that received the 2012 Manfred Guttmacher Award for literature in forensic psychiatry from American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL), a division of American Psychiatric Association. He was on the international Scientific Committee for Violence in the Health Sector 2014-2016 through Oud Consultancy.

      Dr. Privitera was a member of the Federation of State Medical Boards Task Force on physician burnout, which led to their 2018 national policy recommendations of limiting state board physician mental health questions to current impairment and not about past psychiatric history, to help encourage physicians to seek help and avoid stigma. He has presented on Human factor-Based Leadership at the International Symposium of Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE) in Healthcare, IHI Patient Safety Congress, AHA Leadership Summit and 2022 Healthcare Burnout Symposiums in San Francisco and New York City. This HFE work led to invitations for AHA, AMA webinar presentations and to serve as a panel participant on 2022 World Patient Safety, Science and Technology Summit. Since July, 2022 he is Faculty of Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Boston, for Workplace Change Collaborative HRSA Grant, derived from the recently passed Lorna Breen Act to find ways to help the mental health and wellbeing of clinicians. 

    He was a member, NIOSH Office for Total Worker Health® and the NIOSH Healthy Work Design and Well-Being Program: Healthy Work Design Council in 2020. He has written in publications of Physician Leadership Journal, The Joint Commission, American Hospital Association, National Patient Safety Foundation, Medscape, Journal of Hospital Administration and Journal of Legal Medicine on clinician burnout.

Website: www.MichaelRPriviteraMD.com

• Link to claim CME credit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DXCFW3
• CME credit is available for up to 3 years after the stated release date

Contact CEOD@bmhcc.org if you have any questions about claiming credit.