Increased autonomy and potential income growth are big draws for physicians interested in going into private practice, and the American Medical Association shared tips to help make that transition work. 

Five major healthcare deals since Nov. 15 that physician leaders need to know:

Jeff Desmond, MD, chief medical officer at University of Michigan Medicine Health in Ann Arbor, has announced his retirement after nearly 30 years with the health system. 

Jupiter (Fla.) Medical Center Physician Group is welcoming three new cardiologists to its team. 

Shazia M. Jamil, MD, has become the first Asian American woman to receive the Outstanding Clinician Award from the American Thoracic Society. She is also just the fourth woman to receive the award since it launched in 2003, according to a Dec. 5 report from the Del Mar Times.

Boynton Beach, Fla.-based multispecialty physician group Medical Specialists of the Palm Beaches has secured a private equity investment, the company said Dec. 5. 

Web services giant Amazon has been making waves in the healthcare space in the last year. Here are eight Amazon health updates Becker's has reported on in the last 30 days for physician leaders to know: 

Lynn Fitzgibbons, MD, has been named the 2022 Santa Barbara County physician of the year by the Central Coast Medical Association. Dr. Fitzgibbons currently serves as program director of the internal medicine residency program at Santa Barbara (Calif.) Cottage Hospital and the medical director of the Cottage Center for Population Health.

As issues such as physician burnout and turnover rates continue to grow, leaders must adapt their leadership style to address changes and problems. Richard Winters, MD, an emergency physician at Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic and director of leadership development at the Mayo Clinic Care Network, told Forbes  in a Dec. 2 report five lessons for leadership to address issues within the workplace.

Here are 6 C-suite moves Becker's reported on in November:

Provider advocates such as the American Hospital Association and American Medical Association sent a letter Nov. 30 urging Congress to prevent the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 sequester from taking effect.

Grace Lee, MD, has been selected as the chief quality officer at Stanford (Calif.) Medicine Children's Health and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford. She will begin overseeing the quality and safety of Stanford Medicine Children's Health Dec. 12.

Vicente Diaz, MD, has been named the next chief of ophthalmology at Yale New Haven Health's  Bridgeport (Conn.) Hospital.

Scam artists posing as law enforcement officers, DEA agents and medical board staff have begun calling California physicians as a part of an extortion scheme, the California Medical Association said Nov. 29. 

Paul Minardi, MD, has been named the executive vice president and chief executive officer of the Kaiser Permanente Foundation, according to a release. Dr. Minardi assumes the role with more than 36 years of experience in medicine, most recently serving as the executive medical director for the Washington Permanente Medical Group.

Despite state prohibitions on physician employment, all eligible California and Texas physicians can now participate in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. This change was put into action by the final rule listed in the Education Department's overhaul of the program, according to a Nov. 29 news release from the California Medical Association. 

Physician burnout can be prevented by increasing efficiency and eliminating unnecessary work, ultimately allowing physicians to focus on their patients while exemplifying wellness within their practices. The American Medical Association recently released a guide outline strategies providers can use to save time and improve operations.

Payers have increasingly been incorrectly cutting evaluation-and-management service payments to physicians, according to a Nov. 23 report from the American Medical Association. 

Kavitha Bhatia, MD, has been recognized as a 2022 Inspirational Woman Award finalist by the LA Times for her leadership in the medical field. Dr. Bhatia currently serves as the president and chair of Prime Healthcare Foundation and chief medical officer of strategy for Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare.

Dr. Pankaj Agrawal will serve as chief of neonatology for the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Jackson Health System, also based in Miami.