Staff Burnout and Technology - The Perfect Pair

It’s no secret that physician burnout is a major issue.

Medscape’s National report on Physician Burnout and depression found that nearly two-thirds of U.S. physicians report feeling burned-out, depressed or both and of the physicians who reported burnout, 56% chose “an excess of bureaucratic tasks” as a contributing factor.

Burnout is a multifaceted pandemic. Some of the solutions will always be related to prioritizing self-care and individual stress reduction techniques. Medical institutions can, at best, incentivize or encourage and help steer individuals towards adopting those techniques while hoping for cultural shifts.

But fortunately, another portion of burnout prevention is systematic, tactical and can be implemented with technology.  As Shanafelt, Goh & Sinsky explain in The Business Case for investing in Physician Well-Being:

“Understanding the business case to reduce burnout and promote engagement as well as overcoming the misperception that nothing meaningful can be done are key steps for organizations to begin to take action. Evidence suggests that improvement is possible, investment is justified, and return on investment measurable. Addressing this issue is not only the organization’s ethical responsibility, it is also the fiscally responsible one."

What if the same technology you invested in to meet legislative requirements also set the foundation to help you prevent practitioner burnout?

Imagine...

Tools that facilitate treating patients as partners practicing team-based collaborative healthcare can make it possible to realize a holistic transformation of your health system or hospital. Building the therapeutic alliance between the patient and care team could become an intuitive process where everyone feels less rushed and more effective.

The Mayo clinic's Charter on Physician Well Being states that “optimal systems support for well-being includes providing adequate practice resources to manage the pace and volume of work and designing spaces that streamline work and communication.” 

Specifically, the charter suggests the use of “quality improvement strategies to improve technology and the physical environment and reduce administrative burden.” They then go on to list the following examples of specific adjustments that “have each demonstrated benefits to physician burnout and satisfaction” :

• automated prescription lines,[Alvaria’s tools help make that happen.]
• having medical assistants enter patient data into electronic health records [We ease that process too.]
• and more efficient patient flow through the clinic[This is at the heart of Alvaria's healthcare solutions.]

When the information you already have hidden in EHRs is easily accessible and ready instantly, practitioners can be afforded the freedom and space to be less reactive and more thoughtful. As the Mayo Clinic’s charter mentioned above confirms, “Decreased time spent on administrative work and documentation may enhance meaning and the patient experience by increasing the time physicians can dedicate to direct patient care”.

Thinking about the bottom line? Alvaria's healthcare call center solutions can help hospital administrators address some of the key systemic issues that lead to physician burnout. And we’d love to talk to you about it.