Burnout is Prevalent, but Clinicians Believe Health Systems Don’t Properly Address It

Ninety percent of clinical staff at U.S. hospitals and health systems agreed that increased or ineffective technology contributes to the risk of clinician burnout, according to a recent survey from healthcare communications company Spok.  

The survey of 470 clinical staff measured clinician perception of burnout. Key findings confirm that clinicians think burnout is a “public health crisis,” yet many report their organizations are not implementing recommended strategies to address it. Eighty-nine percent of respondents noted that burdensome or increased workload (not related to direct patient care) is the biggest factor that contributes to this risk.

Despite these concerns, when asked what prevents clinicians from seeking help for potential symptoms of burnout, the No. 1 obstacle cited by respondents (65 percent) was that their organization lacks institutional attention and resources. When asked how often their organization leaders discuss burnout, 47 percent said rarely or never.

As such, the survey also sought to identify if organizations are implementing solutions proposed in the paper: “A Crisis in Healthcare: A Call to Action on Physician Burnout,” published by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Harvard Global Health Institute, the Massachusetts Medical Society, and the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association. The paper suggested three solutions to reduce the risk of clinical burnout: support proactive mental health treatment and support, improve EHR usability, and appoint an executive-level chief wellness officer.

However, about 40 percent of the respondents indicated that none of these strategies are being implemented at their organizations. Thirty percent of respondents said their organizations are improving EHR usability, but just 20 percent reported mental health treatment or support is available, and 13 percent have a chief wellness officer or equivalent. The survey asked the clinicians if the suggested solutions could help address the risk of burnout in their own organizations. A resounding 95 percent believe improving EHR usability will be at least somewhat helpful.

Following that report, healthcare researchers attested that physician burnout is indeed a public health crisis and addressing the problem requires improving EHR with a strong focus on usability and open application programming interfaces (APIs). In this survey, 92 percent of respondents said they believe that burnout is a public health crisis.

“Clinician burnout is a complicated issue. The phrase is often used to capture associated symptoms like occupational stress, depression, moral injury, and many other terms,” noted Teresa Niblett, R.D., director of clinical informatics at Peninsula Regional Medical Center and member of the Spok nursing advisory council. “The pursuit of the triple aim—improving care experiences, bettering the health of populations, and reducing the costs of healthcare—results in many variables that increase pressures on healthcare workers. I am not surprised 92 percent of clinicians in this survey called burnout a public health crisis. It validates expanding the triple aim to a quadruple aim by adding the goal to reduce clinician burden.”