A recent survey says more than 41% physicians suffer from at least one symptom of physician burnout which can then lead to medical errors and low quality care for patients.
The good news is, primary care physicians aren’t powerless in the fight to prevent career fatigue. They can alter practice workflows and delegate more responsibilities of patient care and with that, can avoid burnouts and enjoy their practice.
An examination of 23 high-performing primary care practices to identify the innovations that “make the job of primary care feasible and enjoyable as a life’s vocation.” Luckily,Electronic Health Records (EHRs) can help in both regards.
Let’s take a look at three workflow practices which will prove EHRs prevent or reduce physician burnout.
Pre-visit planning
Attending to unplanned patients can put your practice on the back foot quickly. You will spend more time juggling charts, analyzing lab results and diagnosing medical issues and you will have next scheduled patients waiting in the clinic for you.
Stress can build up in such a situation. An EHR with intelligent task management system will let you organize patient information in such a way that you can treat patients faster without sacrificing quality of care being delivered.
Eliminate time-consuming paper work
Your EHR should not only speed up the charting process, but excel in other documentation areas such as computerized physician order entry (CPOE) as well. EHRs with order sets allow you to build orders for specific types of patients or diagnoses and keep you from having to repetitively build entirely new orders for each unique patient.
Streamline prescription management
EHRs with ePrescribing take much of the prescription process – other than choosing the medication – out of your hands. Prescription orders are sent to pharmacies with just a couple of mouse clicks. This saves patients from having to drop off the order manually and return later when it’s filled. Enhanced patient convenience increases the chances of prescription compliance.
EHRs are just one of the several technologies that help prevent physician burnout. If you’re starting to feel worn down by your practice’s administrative duties, look into practice management software as well, as it can help streamline operations.
Embrace technology. It may be your ticket to bringing the joy back to primary care.
The good news is, primary care physicians aren’t powerless in the fight to prevent career fatigue. They can alter practice workflows and delegate more responsibilities of patient care and with that, can avoid burnouts and enjoy their practice.
An examination of 23 high-performing primary care practices to identify the innovations that “make the job of primary care feasible and enjoyable as a life’s vocation.” Luckily,Electronic Health Records (EHRs) can help in both regards.
Let’s take a look at three workflow practices which will prove EHRs prevent or reduce physician burnout.
Pre-visit planning
Attending to unplanned patients can put your practice on the back foot quickly. You will spend more time juggling charts, analyzing lab results and diagnosing medical issues and you will have next scheduled patients waiting in the clinic for you.
Stress can build up in such a situation. An EHR with intelligent task management system will let you organize patient information in such a way that you can treat patients faster without sacrificing quality of care being delivered.
Eliminate time-consuming paper work
Your EHR should not only speed up the charting process, but excel in other documentation areas such as computerized physician order entry (CPOE) as well. EHRs with order sets allow you to build orders for specific types of patients or diagnoses and keep you from having to repetitively build entirely new orders for each unique patient.
Streamline prescription management
EHRs with ePrescribing take much of the prescription process – other than choosing the medication – out of your hands. Prescription orders are sent to pharmacies with just a couple of mouse clicks. This saves patients from having to drop off the order manually and return later when it’s filled. Enhanced patient convenience increases the chances of prescription compliance.
EHRs are just one of the several technologies that help prevent physician burnout. If you’re starting to feel worn down by your practice’s administrative duties, look into practice management software as well, as it can help streamline operations.
Embrace technology. It may be your ticket to bringing the joy back to primary care.