The journal of allergy and clinical immunology. In practice
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Provider health and wellness is a significant issue and can impact patient care, including patient satisfaction, quality of care, medical errors, malpractice risk, as well as provider and office staff turnover and early retirement. Health and wellness encompasses various areas including burnout, depression, divorce, and suicide and affects providers of all specialties and at all levels of training. Providers deal with many everyday stresses, including electronic health records, office politics, insurance and billing issues, dissatisfied patients, and their own personal and family issues. ⋯ There is currently very little data regarding health and wellness specifically in the field of allergy and immunology, and studies are necessary to determine the prevalence of burnout and related issues in this field. Many medical specialties as well as state and national medical associations have health and wellness committees and other resources, which are essential for providers. Health and wellness programs should be introduced early in a provider's training and continued throughout a provider's career.