Reducing burnout among physicians requires a multifaceted approach
There are healthcare leaders who believe in technology and AI as the primary solution to physician burden and burnout, and leaders who are skeptical of AI’s ability to deliver on these promises without compromising ethics, safety, and endanger equality.
Dr. Anwar Jebran, a primary care informaticist and clinical assistant professor at Oak Street Health, is a proponent of technology that helps reduce physician burnout — specifically ambient AI, powered by large language models. But he believes in a multifaceted approach to ending burnout.
He is one of four experts discussing AI and burnout on a panel at HIMSS25 in March in a session titled “Physician Burnout: Is AI the Only Way Forward?”
The session will delve into the pressing issue of physician burnout and provide a comprehensive exploration of how advanced technology, strategic policymaking and effective burnout relief strategies can collectively improve the working lives of healthcare professionals.
Whether it concerns innovative systems such as ambient AI or proven, low-tech, high-impact strategies, the panel aims to provide practical analyzes and conversations that can have a positive impact on daily practice.
Jebran is a board-certified internal medicine physician who believes in using technology to improve healthcare. He serves as a clinical assistant professor at University of Illinois Health to support the implementation of the hospital-at-home program and promote international collaborations and partnerships in healthcare informatics.
We spoke with Jebran to get a preview of his panel session.
Q. What is the overarching theme of your session and why is it especially relevant to healthcare and health IT today?
A. The overarching theme of the session is addressing burnout among physicians and healthcare providers while exploring innovative solutions that can have a tangible impact. Burnout remains a critical challenge in healthcare, causing significant costs due to high staff turnover, reduced productivity and its negative impact on the quality of patient care.
The session will highlight the transformative potential of advanced tools such as ambient AI and large language models to alleviate this crisis. These technologies streamline workflows by reducing administrative burdens, improving clinical documentation, and enabling more meaningful patient-provider interactions.
For example, ambient AI can seamlessly capture clinical data during the encounter, allowing physicians to focus on care LLMs assist with tasks such as preparing SOAP notes and summaries after visits or supporting evidence-based clinical decision support.
In addition to AI, the session will also highlight the value of low-tech, high-impact solutions in tackling burnout. Simple, scalable interventions such as optimizing workflows, improving communication between teams, and reducing unnecessary tasks can profoundly restore balance and efficiency for healthcare teams.
This combination of innovation and usability makes the discussion highly relevant in today’s healthcare and IT landscape.
Q: Please talk about ambient AI and LLMs as you will be presenting these at your HIMSS25 session.
A. The primary technology I will discuss in the session is ambient AI, powered by large language models, which is changing the way healthcare providers manage clinical documentation and patient encounters. Using advanced advanced voice recognition and LLMs, these tools can listen to patient encounters, generate and summarize SOAP notes, and create post-visit summaries with remarkable accuracy.
They can also prepare orders, allowing providers to free themselves from time-consuming administrative tasks. This Ambient AI technology allows physicians to focus more on patient care and less on documentation, significantly reducing cognitive load and time spent on notes.
In the context of my session’s focus, this technology represents a breakthrough solution to address provider burnout. By automating and optimizing these routine but crucial tasks, ambient AI saves time and helps restore the human connection in patient interactions.
It enables physicians to interact more meaningfully with their patients, leading to better care and greater professional satisfaction. This dual impact on operational efficiency and caregiver well-being makes ambient AI a critical innovation for addressing burnout in today’s demanding healthcare environment.
Q. What is just one of the several insights you hope HIMSS25 participants will leave your session with and take away when they get home to their organizations?
A. One of the key insights I hope HIMSS25 attendees will come away with from our session is the importance of taking a multifaceted approach to addressing physician burnout – one that combines advanced technologies like ambient AI with low- tech, high-quality interventions.
Participants will gain insights from national leaders on our panel on how advanced tools, such as ambient AI, can streamline documentation and reduce administrative burdens, while also understanding the critical role of organizational culture in promoting supplier well-being .
Whether implementing innovative technology or prioritizing changes such as improving workplace communications and investing in workforce assistance programs, participants will be equipped with actionable strategies to create meaningful change in their organizations.
“Physician Burnout: Is AI the Only Way Forward?” is scheduled for Tuesday, March 4 at 10:15 a.m. at HIMSS25 in Las Vegas.
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