Physician Burnout in the Electronic Health Record Era: Are We Ignoring the Real Cause?

Ideas and Opinions3 July 2018Physician Burnout in the Electronic Health Record Era: Are We Ignoring the Real Cause?N. Lance Downing, MD, David W. Bates, MD, MSc, and Christopher A. Longhurst, MD, MSN. Lance Downing, MDStanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California (N.L.D.)Search for more papers by this author, David W. Bates, MD, MScBrigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts (D.W.B.)Search for more papers by this author, and Christopher A. Longhurst, MD, MSUniversity of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, San Diego, California (C.A.L.)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/M18-0139 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Physician burnout is reaching crisis proportions in the United States (1). Studies have noted a rising prevalence of emotional fatigue. One study suggested that more than half of physicians in some disciplines are burned out and that this proportion is increasing. The number of clinicians leaving the workforce represents a major concern to health care professionals and to the health of the nation. Many factors contribute, but the physician's interaction with electronic health records (EHRs) is especially important now that EHRs have been broadly adopted across the country.Although EHRs have great potential to improve care, they may also have ...References1. Shanafelt TD, Hasan O, Dyrbye LN, et al. Changes in burnout and satisfaction with work-life balance in physicians and the general US working population between 2011 and 2014. Mayo Clin Proc. 2015;90:1600-13. PMID: 26653297 doi:10.1016/j.mayocp.2015.08.023 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Tai-Seale M, Olson CW, Li J, et al. 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Impact of scribes on physician satisfaction, patient satisfaction, and charting efficiency: a randomized controlled trial. Ann Fam Med. 2017;15:427-33. PMID: 28893812 doi:10.1370/afm.2122 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar7. Washington V, DeSalvo K, Mostashari F, Blumenthal D. The HITECH era and the path forward. N Engl J Med. 2017;377:904-6. PMID: 28877013 doi:10.1056/NEJMp1703370 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar8. Halamka JD, Tripathi M. The HITECH era in retrospect. N Engl J Med. 2017;377:907-9. PMID: 28877012 doi:10.1056/NEJMp1709851 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar9. Sinsky CA, Beasley JW, Simmons GE, Baron RJ. Electronic health records: design, implementation, and policy for higher-value primary care. Ann Intern Med. 2014;160:727-8. PMID: 24842418. doi:10.7326/M13-2589 LinkGoogle Scholar10. Mafi JN, Gerard M, Chimowitz H, Anselmo M, Delbanco T, Walker J. Patients contributing to their doctors' notes: insights from expert interviews. Ann Intern Med. 2018;168:302-5. PMID: 29132154. doi:10.7326/M17-0583 LinkGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California (N.L.D.)Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts (D.W.B.)University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, San Diego, California (C.A.L.)Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M18-0139.Corresponding Author: N. Lance Downing, MD, 1265 Welch Road, Room X265, Stanford, CA 94035; e-mail, email protectededu.Current Author Addresses: Dr. Downing: 1265 Welch Road, Room X265, Stanford, CA 94035.Dr. Bates: Harvard University, 1620 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02120.Dr. Longhurst: University of California, San Diego, 9560 Towne Centre Drive #100, San Diego, CA 92121.Author Contributions: Conception and design: N.L. Downing, C.A. Longhurst.Analysis and interpretation of the data: N.L. Downing, C.A. Longhurst.Drafting of the article: N.L. Downing, D.W. Bates, C.A. Longhurst.Critical revision of the article for important intellectual content: N.L. Downing, D.W. Bates, C.A. Longhurst.Final approval of the article: N.L. Downing, D.W. Bates, C.A. Longhurst.Administrative, technical, or logistic support: D.W. Bates, C.A. Longhurst.Collection and assembly of data: N.L. Downing, C.A. Longhurst.This article was published at Annals.org on 8 May 2018. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoPhysician Burnout in the Electronic Health Record Era Donald E. Girard Physician Burnout in the Electronic Health Record Era Mukesh Kapoor Physician Burnout in the Electronic Health Record Era N. Lance Downing , David W. Bates , and Christopher A. 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