04.29.2019

MHA, MMS, & Reliant Publish EHR Steps to Combat Clinician Burnout


The Massachusetts Medical Society – Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association Joint Task Force on Physician Burnout has published a paper in partnership with the Reliant Medical Group to show how electronic health records (EHRs) can lessen – not worsen – administrative burdens for physicians and other clinicians.
 
Changing the EHR from a Liability to an Asset to Reduce Physician Burnout includes more than a dozen practical EHR optimization techniques an organization can take to improve the usability of the EHR and its associated workflows to reduce the administrative burden.
  
A report published in January 2019 by the MMS-MHA Joint Task Force, Harvard School of Public Health, and Harvard Global Health Institute identified inefficient EHRs as one of several leading causes of burnout among healthcare providers. A 2016 Press Gainey survey of EHR users showed Reliant Medical Group’s EHR scoring in the 97th percentile nationally for usability.
 
The new white paper’s optimization strategies include cross-affiliated-facility information sharing for all patient EHRs; inbox management; staff placement of EHR-suggested draft orders prior to patient appointments; provider-specific guidelines for triage staff to handle patient phone calls; and direct EHR interfacing with patients to reduce clinician and staff clerical work.
  
The paper’s authors are Steven Defossez, M.D., MHA’s V.P., Clinical Integration; Larry Garber, M.D., medical director for informatics, Reliant Medical Group; and MMS President Alain Chaoui, M.D.