February 23, 2026— A new study from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health identifies team creativity as a powerful, measurable driver of well-being and effectiveness in primary care. The research validates a new Primary Care Team Creativity tool and finds that higher levels of team creativity is also associated with greater job satisfaction and lower burnout among clinicians and staff. The findings position creativity as a practical, actionable lever for strengthening patient care, supporting providers, and advancing innovation in primary care settings. The findings are published in Health Care Management Review .
Defined as the collective ability of a team to generate novel and useful ideas, team creativity has long been studied in business and organizational psychology. However, until now, it had not been explicitly examined or validated in primary health care.
"Primary care teams are under growing strain. Despite being central to delivering high-quality, patient-centered care, these teams face rising burnout and declining job satisfaction," said Yuna Lee , PhD, assistant professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia Mailman School, and first author. "Over the past two decades, many interventions have attempted to improve clinician well-being, but most have focused on individual resilience or workload. Our findings suggest that strengthening team-level conditions—specifically creativity—may simultaneously reduce burnout, enhance satisfaction, and improve care."
The study was conducted within a large New York State health system serving approximately 12 million people, with 85,000 employees, 21 hospitals, and 890 outpatient care centers. The sample included approximately 400 primary care providers and team members.
Among survey respondents, 32 percent had worked in their practice for more than five years; 16 percent were physicians, and 24 percent were registered nurses. Eighty-two percent identified as female, and 56 percent identified as White.
The study makes three key contributions to health services research:
- Establishes team creativity as a meaningful concept in primary care. This is the first study to show the importance of team creativity to well-being outcomes in a setting that requires optimal teamwork for high-quality, patient-centered care.
- Introduces and validates a practical measurement tool for measuring team creativity in primary care teams.
Advances understanding of how the work life of health care professionals impacts their well-being and, subsequently, patient care.
"Our study highlights the pivotal role of creativity in primary care teams," said Lee. "Drawing on decades of research in management, organizational behavior, and social psychology, we show that creativity is not just about innovation—it is closely tied to how clinicians experience their work. This has significant implications for how health systems approach burnout."
Lee continues, "With state policymakers and health system leaders under pressure to improve outcomes while addressing workforce shortages, our findings suggest that fostering team creativity should be viewed as a strategic asset.
Co-authors are Nancy LaVine, Northwell Health and Department of Medicine, Lenox Hill Hospital; Cheryl Rathert, College for Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis University; Yulia Kogan, Population Health Analytics, Northwell Health; and Lusine Poghosyan, Stone Foundation and Elise D. Fish Columbia University Professor of Nursing and Professor of Health Policy and Management.
The study was supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (Grant 5R03HS027502-02).
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
