According to one recent survey, 96 percent of the physicians surveyed reported burnout to some degree. The top reason cited for job dissatisfaction? EHR design and interoperability issues.
Physicians are burned out, but the right data analysis tools can — and should — help.
Physicians in the United States today handle more than 1 billion patient encounters a year, including almost 140 million visits to emergency departments. They also are burned out, as many surveys have confirmed in recent years, so much so that the suicide rate for doctors is more than double that of the general population.
What can help? Physicians by nature are scientists and high achievers. The right data analysis tools can — and should — help. Great analytics not only can eliminate some stress but actually can inspire and motivate providers to pursue their passion with even greater focus and excellence.
U.S. Physician Burnout an Epidemic
Physician burnout has been called an epidemic by the American Academy of Family Physicians, which said the hours spent on data entry increasingly are cutting into time spent on face-to-face patient contact.
This year’s survey of 8,774 physicians by the Physicians Foundation, in partnership with physician search and consulting firm Merritt Hawkins, also showed that doctors continue to struggle with burnout and job satisfaction.
Consider some key findings:
- 80 percent of respondents said they were at full capacity or overworked.
- 6 percent see up to 30 patients per day.
- 6 percent feel pessimistic about the future of the medical profession.
- 46 percent plan to change career paths.
- The top reason cited for job dissatisfaction was EHR design/interoperability.
The Association of American Medical Colleges reported recently that the deepening shortage of physicians is due in part to doctors burning out and leaving the profession, estimating that by 2030, in the U.S. there will be a projected shortage of physicians of 42,600 to 121,300.
Clean, actionable data can relieve physician stress.
Most current analytics applications suffer from poor quality data sets and a limited ability to drive high-impact actions. When data is of questionable veracity and relevance, and analytics do not make it easy to understand the root causes of underperforming metrics, it only adds to stress. Trusted data with easy-to-access and relevant insights can be empowering.
The right set of advanced data analytics tools can and should help relieve some of these stressors. An effective, reliable data analytics solution can unlock the data in EHRs and other data silos, helping address burnout by making data collection less arduous and identifying data entry errors.
d2i’s intuitive tools provide a comprehensive, descriptive picture of performance by integrating and enriching clinical data, billing, scheduling, and patient satisfaction. To ensure your staff has meaningful data and the support they need to stay motivated in their work, contact us to learn how we help clinicians reconnect with their patients and lesson their administrative burden, or to schedule a 30-minute demo.