““Burnout is nature’s way of telling you, you’ve been going through the motions your soul has departed; you’re a zombie, a member of the walking dead, a sleepwalker. False optimism is like administrating stimulants to an exhausted nervous system.”
— Sam Keen
WE ALL KNOW that physician burnout is a problem. The real question is how we plan to treat it. The bad news is that there’s no magic bullet, but the good news is that there are four different approaches that we could take. The American Medical Association (AMA) has even spent considerable resources investigating the phenomenon of physician burnout and looking for ways to reduce the challenges that physicians face.
In a study titled Effect of Organization-Directed Workplace Interventions on Physician Burnout: A Systemic Review, AMA leaders and IBM staffers collaborated to explain, “Burnout more often stems from organizational or system-level factors, and interventions to prevent burnout may be more effective when they focus on changing the system rather than individual physicians.”
Here are the categories that they identified:
TEAMWORK: The researchers examined 50 different studies and found, “When practices and organizations expanded the duties of medical assistants, professional fulfillment and practice satisfaction improved. Practices with full-time clerical support for physician order entry in primary care also saw a decrease in weekly self-reported burnout. At baseline, 43% of doctors were burned out compared to the four-month follow-up of only 14%.”
TIME: Researchers trialed fourteen different interventions including limited working hours, modified work schedules and promoted time banking. Eight of those studies reported a positive impact.
TRANSITIONS: Eight out of nine studies found that workflow redesigns, targeted quality improvement projects and separating workflows had a substantial impact on physician burnout and job satisfaction.
TECHNOLOGY: Possibly the most interesting thing here is that each of these studies focused on EHRs. Half of the ten studies noted interventions that successfully improved physician burnout and satisfaction.
Physician burnout is such a hot topic at the moment that it seems as though everyone has an opinion. One that stood out in particular was a Q&A between HealthTech Magazine’s Andrew Steger and Esteban Rubens of NetApp, who made the case for AI’s potential to combat the burnout that’s sweeping the nation’s doctors.
Rubens says that administrative tasks such as data entry aren’t what physicians signed up to do. He explains, “We have some anecdotal evidence of people leaving the profession because they don’t want to have to deal with repetitive tasks and data entry. And then there’s this phenomenon of concierge doctors. The doctors take payment from the patients directly, and they don’t really have to deal with any of the software that’s required for providers who work in a standard organization.”
Human “Check Engine” Lights
This is a concept that I’ve been advocating for a while now, and I’m glad to see that it’s finally gaining traction. The idea is that we should have “check engine” lights for human beings like we have on the dashboards of our cars. Now, University of Alberta computing scientist Pierre Boulanger is working on making it a reality.
Writing about Boulanger’s work for Folio.ca, Bren Wittmeier explained, “He’s developed two products that could help take patients down the road. One is MEDBike, a biking system that remotely monitors blood pressure, oxygen levels and heart activity in recovering cardiac patients. The other is MEDRoad, a cloud-based tele-monitoring system that allows patient health to be observed without the need to go to a hospital or clinic.”
These are important steps towards a future in which we routinely use continuous monitoring to keep patients in the best health possible. MEDBike is interesting too because it taps into virtual reality and the developers have even created a version for children in which they can chase animals or race through wormholes. Wittmeier says, “He envisions the technology being used in nursing homes, where vital signs telemonitored by cloud analytics could make sure the exercise is done safely. In remote communities, the bike could be used to conduct stress tests.”
It’s also worth noting that these new devices aren’t cost-prohibitively expensive. The prototype MEDBike cost over $4,000 per unit, but the team has made a cheaper system for $1,500 and a simpler, budget model for $400. And while the human check engine light is a little further away, it’s good to know that Boulanger is still working on the project, including by carrying out pilot testing and software certification.
As for Boulanger, he concludes, “A cardiologist told me if we could detect cardiac conditions before someone has a heart attack, the money saved by the healthcare system could be enormous. The idea is to explode healthcare into the virtual world, improving outcomes and quality of life.”
And on the subject of the MEDBike, he adds, “I always say that the gamer of the future will have a six-pack.”
The Role of Employers
How much of a role do employers have when it comes to the health of their employees? And arguably even more importantly, are there some things that should be off limits to them?
They’re tough questions which we’ll have to address as a society, but they were brought to mind for me when I saw the news that U-Haul International will be rejecting job applicants in 21 different states if they’re regular users of nicotine, their reasoning being that they want to maintain a healthy working environment. We should note here that this policy didn’t apply to current staff members who were regular nicotine users.
Writing about the new policy, Valerie Bolden-Barrett explains, “Job seekers in affected states will see U-Haul’s nicotine-free policy in statements on application forms and will undergo questions about nicotine use. In states where it’s legal, applicants will also be subjected to nicotine screening.”
Of course, arguments could be made that this is discriminatory to nicotine users, but then you can also argue that other employees have a right to work in a nicotine-free environment, especially when we consider the negative effects of second-hand smoke.
Jessica Lopez, U-Haul’s Chief of Staff, says, “We’re deeply invested in the well-being of our team members. Nicotine products are addictive and pose a variety of serious health risks. This policy is a responsible step in fostering a culture of wellness at U-Haul, with the goal of helping our team members on their health journey.”
We should also note that U-Haul isn’t the only organization to be adopting a tobacco-free policy. The city of Dayton, Ohio also announced that it would become tobacco-free, showing that governmental institutions can also be instrumental in setting precedents.
Want to learn more?
I talk more about new technologies and their impact on the healthcare industry in my book, The Future of Healthcare: Humans and Machines Partnering for Better Outcomes. Click here to buy yourself a copy.