Avoid Physician Burnout With the Latest EMR and EHR Tools

Do the physicians in your office spend too much time entering data into their electronic health records (EHRs) and handling administrative tasks?

These physicians are most likely becoming frustrated. In addition, it’s only a matter of time until they burn out. 

The Science Daily reports that physician suicide and burnout are growing public health concerns, with 1 in 15 doctors becoming suicidal. Burnout can also affect your patients because it can result in poorer quality care, less patient satisfaction, higher physician turnover rates, and more medical errors.

So, how do you avoid physician burnout? There are many ways to prevent burnout, but this article will discuss how to avoid physician burnout with the latest EMR and EHR tools.

A Brief Overview of Physician Burnout

Burnout is chronic distress related to your job as a physician. Several factors can cause it:

1. Feelings of exhaustion or depletion of energy;

2. Disengagement with work, feelings of negativity or cynicism about the work one is doing; and

3. A decreasing level of professional efficacy.

Similarly, one study found that 25% of family physicians self-reported signs of burnout when asked about emotional exhaustion. 

Doctors who feel burnout are likely to quit practice, threatening patient continuity of care. Thus, burnout can impair physician acuity, memory, and attention, negatively influencing patient safety.

Do you know that most physicians consider EHRs to cause burnout?

The Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association published an international study on the relationship between stress and burnout in health information technology. Researchers found that stress and burnout are particularly prevalent among physicians who use EHRs, as well as among family doctors and other primary care providers.

In another survey, 162 (75%) respondents reported symptoms of burnout caused by the EHR. To sum it up, physicians, and residents, claim that EHRs decrease their work satisfaction and well-being. 

Physicians thus perceive EHR usage as a contributor to burnout. 

To avoid physician burnout, you should be encouraged to reduce the administrative burden of EHRs or to use the latest EMRs and EHR tools.

Latest EMR and EHR Tools to Combat Physician Burnout

• Electronic treatment plans that cover a range of situations.

The plans should vary according to the patient’s circumstances and preferences. For example, patients with well-controlled diabetes will have a different method than those who still struggle to control the disease. The treatment plan for a patient who lives alone would differ from a patient who lives with a big, lovable family.

In addition, the list can help physicians organize various care plans for patients under their care. 

• The ability to integrate systems (including billing and hospital information systems)

A vital element of any solution for EMRs is integration, which involves real-time data exchange and on-demand data access between systems. HIS-based hospital information systems (if you’re part of an institution-wide network) and billing systems are two common integration points. By integrating billing, you can simplify the billing process for your patients. As a result, your front office staff becomes more efficient, reducing coding errors. This results in a reduction of payment delays, saving you time and money. Utilizing EMR solutions for your medical practice can assist your practice with faster reimbursements by integrating your billing system within your EMR platform.

• A Seamless Appointment Reminder Feature

Maintain constant communication with your patients via email on your mobile device, tablet, and laptop. When physicians and patients are connected via seamless appointment reminders, the level of communication is enhanced fivefold.

If you establish a specified frequency or amount of advance notice within the EMR system, it will integrate with your scheduler and send messages to your patients. Patients can be notified of an upcoming appointment, reminded seven days before the appointment, and given 24 hours’ notice. Automating this process will save the clinic a significant amount of time and reduce the number of patient no-shows.

• Integrate a Voice Recognition Software into Your EMR and EHR 

Many physicians spend more time in front of their computers than interacting with patients. In turn, this can harm physician-patient relationships.

With your EHR, you can integrate voice recognition software. The software enables physicians to dictate clinical documentation, creating digital notes stored in the EHR.

Additionally, voice recognition software does a pretty good job of converting a physician’s speech to notes. However, conversion errors may be inevitable. Putting mechanisms in place to check for mistakes is vital to understanding the typical challenges of voice recognition software.

Google is developing tools to facilitate the capturing of medical conversations in improving EHR workflow. Using these tools, physicians can reduce their workload and avoid physician burnout.

Taking the Next Step

EHRs are a significant factor in physician burnout, and as a healthcare provider, you must do everything within your power to prevent or minimize it. With an easier-to-use EMR, physicians can spend more time on patient care and less time on daily tasks. It will reduce the likelihood of stressful situations in your office.

Providing you with the Best

Choose only the best for your healthcare practice. 

At 1st Providers Choice, we understand our clients’ needs and expectations for a higher performance level for billing software and EMR software. That’s why we only offer the top tailored medical billing system and EHR with features that will allow your practice to operate at its optimum potential, save time, and double your revenue.

Call us at (480) 782-1116 for immediate assistance or schedule a free demo with our experts TODAY.