Physician Burnout

Physician burnout has been a concern for decades and with added technologies such as EHRs, physicians are reporting burnout more than ever. In an attempt to address the issue; many organizations have aimed to improve EHR functionality through optimization build projects, as well as optimization programs around physician training.

How to identify physician burnout?

One challenge of organizations is actually identifying the core reasons that are contributing to physician burnout. Some tools exist within EHR software, such as Epic’s Signal Report. Utilizing the data that the signal report produces, may help organizations in their identification of issues and challenges physicians are facing. In a recent report about Physician Burnout, the Arch Collaborative has identified the following factors to have an impact on satisfaction and burnout based on their data:

1. Time spent in the EHR
2. Degree of EHR personalization
3. Use of Advance functionality
4. Percent of orders self-entered
5. Time spent in the EHR on off days/hours or at home

It has been found that the higher satisfaction with an EHR, the less likely physicians report burnout. Therefore it is important to not only identify areas of struggle, but implement strategies that reduce burnout and increase end user satisfaction with Physician EHR usage.

How to reduce physician burnout?

Efficiency is one of the key factors that can directly reduce Physician Burnout. Automation of certain areas within ordering workflows, billing, records access, and other areas can greatly reduce the Physician workload. This further contributes to end user satisfaction within physician populations.

In addition to efficiency, customization can also contribute to a physician’s satisfaction over EHR usage. Customization can include pre-defined order sets within ordering preference lists, as well as customized note templates for H&Ps, Consultations, etc. When a Physician sits down and spends a little bit of time in customization efforts, it could save them 1000s of hours of data entry over the life of their practice.

Some organizations have gone back to the table with short retraining efforts for physician populations. These efforts often utilize information around tools identified which aren’t being used by providers, but could greatly increase their efficiency and satisfaction. Retraining efforts often consist of one-on-one sessions with a trainer, a checklist, and some time to train on functionality and system setup.

Although the above is not an all-inclusive list of burnout strategies, they are good starting points to reduce physician burden, reduce burnout and increase end user satisfaction.<

Solution Identification, The Struggle and Challenge

Many organizations encounter difficulties identifying areas of struggle, as well as designing a project or program to increase physician end user satisfaction and reduce burnout. This is where 314e can step in and assist you in achieving these goals. 314e has over 15 years of Epic implementation, optimization and upgrade experience. Not only can we provide staffing and augmentation solutions, we can provide technology and software solutions as well.

One such software solution is our Speki Application that has been approved and is available in the Epic App Orchard. Jeeves is an on-demand resource that provides immediate access to training and learning content to support a physician or clinician in the flow of work. The quick access provides a much better supportive tool for your physician and clinicians alike, when it comes to unfamiliar work flows and learning.

If you would like to know more or would like to have a no-obligation discussion about your project, please reach out to us here.