News: Majority of physicians struggle with burnout, study finds

According to a recent report by the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), 83% of surveyed healthcare professionals view physician burnout as a major issue at their institution. While this number is down from 96% in 2016, the majority of the 2018 respondents believe the problem of burnout has become significantly worse in recent years, Credentialing Resource Center reported.

“This is not just a physician problem, but a problem for all who are cared for and work within our healthcare system,” wrote Laurie L. Prescott, RN, MSN, CCDS, CDIP, CRC, for CDI Strategies.

The study authors recommend several solutions for decreasing burnout, Credentialing Resource Center reported, including delegating more of a clinician’s administrative tasks to other staff members, allowing him or her to have more face-to-face time with the patient. Additionally, survey respondents suggested investing in more efficient EHR systems and streamlining workflow to remove the burden of records and documentation from physicians.

These suggestions were also recently echoed by David S. Nilasena, MD, MSPH, MS, the chief medical officer for CMS’ Dallas Regional Office, at the 2018 ACDIS conference in relation to CMS’ goal of reducing administrative burdens. “For CMS, our ‘One Thing’ is that patients come first,” he said. “We want to make things better for everyone.”

Editor’s note: To read Credentialing Resource Center’s coverage of this survey, click here. To read tips about how CDI can help ease physician burnout, read Prescott’s column here.