As we move through 2021, we must focus on improving our health systems as a whole and recouping the revenue that we lost to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a new healthcare executive survey, the most potentially disruptive forces facing hospitals and health systems in the next three years are provider burnout, disengagement, and resulting shortages among healthcare professionals. [1] Luckily, a medical scribe service can propel you through these changes.
Burnout is not only limited to physicians. Within the past year we have seen startling statistics and first-hand repercussions:
82% of healthcare executives say that filling executive positions remains challenging. [2]
1/3 of nurses that leave their jobs note burnout as the reason. [3]
66% of non-physician clinicians (NPs, PAs, nurses, social workers, and chaplains) experienced at least one symptom of burnout.
Emergency medicine physician assistants have the highest percentage of burnout out of other specialty physician assistants. [4]
More than 20% of the nation’s 15,000 nursing homes reported severe shortages of nursing aides. [5]
3 in 10 health-care workers have weighed leaving their profession. More than half are burnt out. [6]
Stabilize Your Healthcare Teams to Prevent Burnout with a Medica Scribe Service
Focusing on the main reasons for burnout will be vital for the stability of our healthcare systems. Below are some key things to factor in to help stabilize our healthcare teams:
1. Communication
Healthcare leaders need to remember the core values that make up each department. It is widely known that healthcare workers have higher burnout rates than the general working population due to the inherently high-stress field they work in on an everyday basis. [7] Taking the time to meet with the individual teams in person or through group surveys will help to pinpoint the frustrations and symptoms of burnout that the team members face each day and will help guide the leaders to the most effective solution possible.
2. Staffing Shortages Support
When the COVID-19 pandemic first began, there were severe staffing shortages due to infections and quarantine—from non-clinical support staff to physicians. Healthcare workers felt the continued strain on their jobs when 40-hour weeks turned to 50- or 60-hour weeks.
Inadequate staffing was noted as 1 of the 5 leading causes for why nurses left their jobs. [8]
Due to callouts, others were tasked to do twice their workload by adding contact tracing duties or another person’s job duties to their day. Outsourcing for these short- to long-term positions can help healthcare organizations control rising costs and give the support the healthcare teams need at a moment’s notice.
3. Provider Support
Physicians spend only around 27% of their “office” day on direct clinical face-to-face time with the patient. [9] This statistic is not new. Paperwork and administrative burdens rank 1st on this list of issues ruining the patient experience. [10]
How Does a Medical Scribe Service Like Scrivas Help?
As a physician-owned and operated healthcare staffing company, Scrivas is uniquely positioned to be a resource to hospitals and large medical practices by offering a wide range of services from non-clinical support staff, medical scribe service services, and contact tracing to reduce the symptoms of burnout. These services allow your healthcare professionals—from your healthcare support staff to your physicians—to focus on their day-to-day duties while our staff focuses on the burden COVID-19 has caused, including the added administrative tasks and shortages plaguing the healthcare space.
The Scrivas team will ensure that our medical scribes help your healthcare organizations meet all the ever changing guidelines, rules, and regulations related to documentation; we will ensure the hospital and infected staff is constantly monitored; and we will give you the support staff, when needed, to keep your hospital working at the optimal capacity.
Written by: Nicole Bramblett, MHA
[1] https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/executives-rate-provider-burnout-disrupting-force-healthcare [2] https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/executives-rate-provider-burnout-disrupting-force-healthcare [3] https://consumer.healthday.com/nurse-burnout-remains-an-issue-2650317928.html [4] https://www.aapa.org/news-central/2018/05/pas-report-low-burnout/ [5] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/04/health/health-care-workers-burned-out-quitting.html [6] https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/washington-post-kff-frontline-health-care-workers-survey-feb-11-march-7-2021/ba15a233-9495-47a9-9cdd-e7fa1578b1ca/?itid=lk_inline_manual_7 [7] https://www.cureus.com/articles/16398-burnout-in-united-states-healthcare-professionals-a-narrative-review [8] https://www.advisory.com/en/daily-briefing/2021/03/11/nurse-burnout [9] https://www.advisory.com/en/daily-briefing/2016/09/08/documentation-time [10] https://www.google.com/search?q=how+long+do+providers+spend+on+administrative+tasks&sxsrf=ALeKk00UHPjP4lkMiwu9j92gxARFZ19i_g:1620765355557&ei=q-qaYIm4IYjr-wS-vay4CA&start=10&sa=N&ved=2ahUKEwjJuaC6vcLwAhWI9Z4KHb4eC4cQ8NMDegQIARBM&biw=1329&bih=654