The KLAS Arch Collaborative wanted to learn more about how physician and nurse burnout has evolved since the pandemic, and what hospitals and healthcare systems can do to address it. That’s why it conducted a healthcare provider experience survey between January 2022 and August 2023, focusing on physicians’ use of electronic health records.
WHY IT MATTERS
KLAS says data from the Understanding & Addressing Trends in Physician & Nurse Burnout 2024 study indicates that burnout rates among physicians and nurses are declining slightly, but still above pre-pandemic levels.
Of the 20,229 physicians and 32,782 nurses KLAS surveyed over the 20-month period, they cited several contributing factors.
To reduce burnout, doctors and nurses want better staffing, better coordination with leaders and a more efficient EHR, while nurses want better compensation.
“Doctors who start to feel burned out often cite lack of control over workload and a chaotic work environment as causes,” said KLAS researchers in the new report.
“Those who are completely burned out, on the other hand, cite no control over workload, a lack of autonomy and a lack of shared values with leadership.”
Staffing is still a major issue for nurses, but complete burnout among nurses mirrors that of physicians, the study said.
“Nurses who are beginning to feel burned out most often cite staffing, while those who are completely burned out cite similar contributions as physicians who are completely burned out,” the researchers said.
While the perception that their EHRs are hindering quality also had an impact on their burnout, the good news is that after improving staffing levels and better aligning leadership with their concerns, “health systems can focus on improving the efficiency’, irritants that overwhelming point doctors’ frustration, she added.
Researchers said the KLAS data shows that “confidence thrives and burnout decreases” when there is a partnership with the IT team that reduces the EHR and other day-to-day technology inefficiencies that can frustrate physicians.
In a member example included in the report, the State University of New York Upstate Medical University, a member of the Arch Collaborative, was able to increase efficiency for physicians by having their Chief Wellness Officer lead a training program that improves documentation outside office hours by 10%.
THE BIG TREND
The KLAS researchers note that burnout rates among the healthcare workforce have increased since 2018, although they began to level off again in late 2022.
While staffing shortages are a major contributor to this new research, those who are starting to feel burned out cite efficiency-related issues as reasons, and that means there is an opportunity to prevent excessive burnout by increasing EHR efficiency early on .
In October, KLAS published data from a previous study that validated the offerings of suppliers and companies that work better for providers.
KLAS evaluated 67 healthcare organizations’ opinions on EHR services and product offerings to find out which ones provided efficiencies that transformed clinical programs.
“It is one of the metrics that clinical staff are least satisfied with, with only 46% of respondents agreeing that their EHR enables efficiency,” the KLAS researchers said of their clinical EHR efficiency report.
ON THE RECORD
“In terms of EHR efficiency, physicians (and some nurses) report doing more and more work with fewer resources,” KLAS researchers noted in the report.
“If organizations are unable to hire more staff to share the workload, they can instead ensure that physicians receive adequate EHR training and that their workflows are optimized.”
Andrea Fox is editor-in-chief of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.