The burnout rate among physicians and medical teams is soaring, but it’s possible to deflate many healthcare stressors by embracing telehealth solutions.
Beating back burnout has become one of the hottest topics in medicine. Just how bad is burnout in healthcare settings? A recently released survey from the American Medical Association (AMA) revealed that nearly two-thirds (62%) of emergency medicine doctors said they were experiencing burnout. However, the problem didn’t end with emergency physician burnout. Other doctors, including those in family and internal medicine, admitted they were burning out, too.
There’s a silver lining, though: telehealth and virtual care solutions are available. If implemented and integrated appropriately and thoughtfully, they can take a bite out of the burnout affecting doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals.
Exploring Virtual Care for Physician Burnout
Virtual Care models have the potential to alleviate physicians’ burnout in numerous ways. Foremost, it can help doctors and their teams see more patients in the same window of time. Telehealth appointments lend themselves to efficient discussion, clinical examinations, diagnosis, and recommendations. As a result, physicians can support an expanded patient base without having to work extra hours.
Additionally, virtual appointments put less pressure on a doctor’s team. Even a doctor who is short-staffed can independently log into a telehealth platform and provide care. Telehealth is flexible, too. This flexibility makes it feasible for doctors to work from home (or anywhere else), a luxury that helps reduce their stress.
Of course, creating and adopting a telehealth-friendly policy can’t happen without planning. Below are several steps healthcare provider organizations can take to temper team burnout by leveraging virtual care and telehealth options.
1. Explore how telehealth is being used in other healthcare settings
Getting a telehealth program up and running is easier when you’ve done some upfront legwork. Examining what successful hospitals and clinics have done can help inform your next moves.
For instance, CETF, a skilled nursing facility, wanted to embrace telehealth to tamp down on the burnout that was leading to employee churn. However, they had to strategize carefully to ensure that onboarding the physicians to new telehealth technology didn’t increase their workload. Their solution was to work with a telehealth technology partner to make the transition smooth and increase buy-in. The intentional approach worked.
2. Provide education to all end users
It’s important that physicians and other clinicians understand how to use the technology they need for virtual exams, including telehealth platforms and connected medical devices. Yet it’s equally important that end users do, too. Many patients have never tried telehealth and may be confused about it. Consequently, having an educational component to any telehealth rollout is essential so patients know what to expect.
Ironically, telehealth isn’t just favored by younger people. Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that older patients are among the fastest-growing adopters of telehealth. What’s the bottom line? Successful telehealth implementation hinges on educating both clinicians and patients—ensuring that everyone, especially older adults, is comfortable and well-informed. This thorough education is essential to enhance the overall effectiveness and adoption of telehealth.
3. Be patient with the implementation process — and its impact on physician burnout
Any procedural and operational change takes time to produce measurable effects. Accordingly, physician burnout won’t start to wane immediately after the introduction of telehealth and telemedicine.
A good way to know if telehealth is making a difference is to identify and track metrics. These could include anything from patient experience ratings to physician turnover or absenteeism. Staying on top of the numbers also makes it easier to justify the investment in a telehealth solution.
If you’ve been wondering how to prevent physician burnout, begin by investigating telehealth technology solutions. With the support of virtual care, doctors and their colleagues can more effectively care for their patients — and themselves.
About Amy Miller
Amy Miller is the Regional Director of Growth at AMD Global Telemedicine, a pioneer of virtual care technology and an industry leader in telehealth solutions that has been providing quality healthcare solutions to customers for almost 30 years.