Physician burnout soared to a record-high level of 62.8% in 2021, but this issue seems to have been slowly getting better in the years following. Just last week, the American Medical Association released research stating that the nation’s physician burnout has fallen below 50% for the first time since 2020.
The reasons for this improvement are multifactorial, including the end of the pandemic, increased support staff ratios and the introduction of clinician wellness programs. Additionally, one of the most critical reasons that physician burnout levels seem to be improving is the adoption of new technology aimed at reducing burnout, according to a new report released by EHR vendor eClinical Works.
The report is based on a May survey of 120 healthcare professionals. It showed that while burnout levels may be improving slightly, physicians’ administrative burden still remains a major issue, and they are hungry for more tools designed to simplify these tasks.
More than 40% percent of physicians are spending four or more hours every day on documentation alone, the report showed.
It pointed out that the digitization of health records — which started to become mainstream in the U.S. during the early 2000s — has greatly increased physicians’ documentation burden, therefore resulting in skyrocketing burnout rates. But physicians seem optimistics that AI can help with this burden — and 65% of survey respondents believe that clinical documentation is the first and best place to apply AI-powered solutions.
More than half of respondents said that AI medical scribes can save two hours or more on clinical documentation time per provider per day. This time savings would give physicians the ability to focus on less menial tasks, as well as allow them to spend more time with their patients.
Some companies selling AI tools that promise to reduce physicians’ documentation burden include Suki, DeepScribe and Microsoft’s Nuance. Tools such as these are designed to help physicians have more in-depth conversations with their patients — which not only improves a provider’s understanding of their patient’s case, but also leads to higher rates of patient satisfaction because they feel like they’re truly being heard, the report noted.
The report also pointed out that these tools listen to physician-patient visits in order to produce a transcript and draft note for the encounter — but it is always up to the physician to review these drafts and submit the final documentation.
“While AI presents a great opportunity, human intervention is crucial in its use,” Lalith Samaraweera, director of clinical informatics and business intelligence at Guidewell Diagnostic Clinic Medical Group, said in a press release announcing the report. “AI is a complement to your workforce and a helpful asset. It is important to learn where AI can be implemented. Give it a try – the cost of implementation is marginal, especially given the immense benefits.”
Photo: Elena Lukyanova, Getty Images
