Many physicians and nurses have been reaching their breaking point as COVID-19 surges have resulted in longer work hours, limited time with patients and the stress of daily life-and-death decisions.
Burnout, a new normal for many, was an issue even before the pandemic took hold. Much of it was due to providers being saddled with administrative functions, such as those required by the EHR (“death by a thousand clicks”), prior authorization standards and delays, and working as much with their computers as with their patients.
CMS recently released a rule aimed at easing prior authorization. But what else is being done and what’s on the horizon to lessen the burden on providers are what Healthcare Finance News, Healthcare IT News and MobiHealthNews will examine this month.
Workplace violence is ‘epidemic and a concern for healthcare’
Cleveland Clinic shares best practices as violence is four times more likely in a healthcare setting than in another industry.
Parkland Health and Hospital System turns to online staff training
More than three-quarters of healthcare professionals report “major or moderate shifts” toward online training during the pandemic.
Pandemic-era burnout: How EHR vendors are redesigning UI and UX to battle stress
In our seventh and final feature on burnout, experts at Epic, Cerner, Allscripts and Mad*Pow discuss health IT usability problems and solutions, and describe where user experience is headed.
U.S. clinicians spend 50% more time in EHR than those in other countries
A pair of studies aims to examine just how much time American clinicians spend in the electronic health record – and how it impacts their relationship with patients.
AI-powered mobile assistant eliminates after-hours charting for OrthoIndy docs
The artificial intelligence iPhone app integrates with the 13-location practice’s EHR, sending doctors’ spoken words directly into the right places in the record.
CMS finalizes changes to Stark Law that hinder physician referral
The old federal regulations burdened providers with added administrative costs and fear of financial consequences, CMS says.
HHS proposes greater flexibility for providers in sharing patient information under HIPAA
If the rule is finalized, individuals would have the right to access their personal health information in 15 days, rather than 30.
How telehealth technology can help nurses fight burnout
Telemedicine technology and the different care paradigm it enables help nurses minimize stress and the burnout it can cause, says Laura Jonsson, a nurse practitioner and chief clinical officer at Matrix Medical Network.
CMS names an e-prescribing standard for prior authorization to expedite access to medications
The rule is intended to allow prescribers to see that a drug is subject to prior authorization while they are prescribing it.
New strategies needed to combat clinician burnout epidemic
Deep Dive: Clinician burnout has become an epidemic among physicians and nurses, and burdensome regulatory requirements and suboptimal EHR experiences are exacerbating their frustrations. Fixing the problem demands new strategies to restore joy to medicine.
Technology’s role in helping and hurting with burnout
Dr. Bridget Duffy, former chief experience officer at the Cleveland Clinic and CMO at Vocera, talks about burnout during COVID-19, how to protect the healthcare workforce, and how technology can help and hurt with burnout.
Burnout prevalent in healthcare community, consensus report confirms
Clinician burnout isn’t a new problem, but it appears to be getting worse due to factors that are inherent in today’s healthcare system.
New interoperability rules address prior authorization inefficiencies, CMS says
The rule would reduce the time providers wait to receive prior authorization from payers to a maximum of 72 hours.
Pandemic-era burnout: How physicians manage crushing workloads and IT demands
In the third feature story in our burnout series, physicians discuss the stressors of 2020 and offer helpful tips on how their peers can combat burnout.
Chatbots can ease providers’ burden, offer guidance to those with COVID-19
When the perceived ability is the same, patients viewed chatbots more positively than human agents.
Healthcare workers experiencing burnout, stress due to COVID-19 pandemic
Stress, anxiety, frustration, burnout and feelings of being overwhelmed were the most common feelings reported by those on the front lines.