The reality of provider burnout – and the impact it has on healthcare organizations – has become a major industry pain point in recent years. According to an AMA report, burnout costs the U.S. healthcare system an estimated $4.6 billion per year, largely due to provider turnover and work-hour reductions. Depending on the specialty, the cost can range from $500,000 to $1 million for every physician who leaves an organization.
While we can celebrate that burnout is on a slight decline since the COVID-19 pandemic era, healthcare organizations must do everything possible to ensure the current figure continues its downward trend. In this article, learn how healthcare leaders can identify obstacles within EHRs that contribute to burnout and address them with new system efficiencies and AI advancements.
The Current State of EHR Satisfaction
A 2024 JAMA study on EHR satisfaction found that only 27.2% of respondents were very satisfied with their EHR, a metric which was tightly correlated with burnout. That leaves an overwhelming majority of providers at risk, putting healthcare organizations in danger of provider turnover, reduction in care quality, and mistakes.
With EHRs playing such a key role in job satisfaction and the potential for burnout, it’s imperative for healthcare organizations to maximize ease-of-use, implement proper workflows, identify the features within their EHR that will build usability and efficiency, and optimize their EHR to streamline processes and provide access to the data needed to fulfill reporting requirements and reach established goals.
New EHR Capabilities Simplify and Enhance Provider Experience
Leading EHR systems have begun building and advancing AI features within their platforms, many of which are designed to address the longstanding frustrations experienced by providers in the past. AI can now perform functions to help the provider during encounters and reduce the amount of time required for tasks such as notes and coding. AI today can even anticipate errors that may exist.
As demonstrated at recent major vendor user group conferences, ambient listening capabilities have also been built into leading EHR systems to monitor conversations between the provider and the patient, offering prompts for follow-up questions and presenting potential gaps in care. This puts the focus back on the patient in the exam room and helps providers feel more confident and satisfied with their work.
AI capabilities are also rolling out for front office tasks, billing, and call-in encounters. While many of these aren’t specific to a provider’s daily use of the EHR, they do positively impact usability and streamline access to information. For example, AI-powered assistants are designed to perform tasks such as managing after-hours calls, gathering information from the patient and scheduling callbacks. This information is transcribed, a telephone encounter is associated with the patient, and the encounter is then closed. Such systems also have the capability to call a patient with test results and instructions for medication. All information is recorded and visible within a patient’s record for easy provider access.
Leading EHR providers are also simplifying the user experience for providers and staff by eliminating frustrations associated with excessive clicks to arrive at a patient’s information. For example, eClinicalWorks recently announced the introduction of a “flat” designed user interface that eliminates pop-up windows and replaces them with scrolling navigation. This reduces the number of screens a provider must visit during an encounter and provides quick access to vital information. This type of interface is becoming the norm for EHRs, and we expect it to have a significant positive impact on provider satisfaction and burnout.
Each EHR platform has its own set of newly developed shortcuts to reduce clicks and simplify navigation, as well as a differing tactical approach to AI capabilities, but the goal remains the same: enhance usability for the providers and staff to positively impact satisfaction and patient care. These enhancements are typically available through version upgrades of a healthcare organization’s existing EHR.
A Tip Sheet for Implementing AI in Healthcare
Learning about the AI and enhanced usability features in recent EHR version upgrades is exciting, but there is a note of caution associated with enabling such features. Most healthcare organizations will likely only benefit from features that are best aligned with their needs, the way they do business, and their overall goals. In fact, enabling too many features all at once could have a negative impact on user experience. To best strategize rollout, utilize this tip sheet for implementing new features that can mitigate provider burnout:
- Catalog all features currently enabled in the EHR: Identify what they are, what they are being used for, if they are providing a benefit to the organization, and if all enabled features are being used. It’s not advisable to use a current list of features as the guide to what to enable in a new version without this deep dive.
- Consider the strategy: Develop a strategy to inform why (and in what order) the new features will be implemented, who will use and monitor them, what the ultimate goals are for implementing each feature, and how ROI will be measured.
- Develop workflows: Each new feature will either require a brand-new workflow, or a revision to an existing workflow. This will ensure successful rollout and long-term execution and enable the organization’s cross-functional teams to operate productively, efficiently, and as accurately as possible.
- Depending on the vendor system, avoid turning every new feature on at once. Create a plan for how new features will be phased into the organization. Prioritize the list and monitor use once each feature is rolled out. It’s much easier to manage new functionality and workflows in this manner, and it minimizes the stress and frustration, which lead to burnout, associated with rolling out too much all at once.
Everyone in the healthcare industry shares the goal of reducing burnout, increasing satisfaction, and minimizing the loss of providers. With the adoption of AI and advanced interfaces and capabilities in today’s EHRs, healthcare organizations can take steps toward eliminating EHR-related provider pain points. This, coupled with proper workflows to address inefficiencies and administrative burdens, can be a powerful tool to support provider retention, enhanced care, and increased performance.
About Dr. Gary Wietecha, M.D.
Dr. Gary Wietecha, MD, is the Chief Medical Officer of Med Tech Solutions, where he leads the company’s clinical vision and strategy, aligning cutting-edge healthcare technology with clinical best practices to empower providers, optimize workflows, and enhance patient outcomes. With over 25 years of experience as a Physician Informaticist, Dr. Gary has become an expert in EHR implementation, system adoption, performance improvement, workflow optimization, change management, and regulatory compliance. His passion for using technology to bridge the gaps among providers, health systems, and vendors makes him a trusted leader in driving healthcare excellence and digital transformation.
