How to Reduce Physician Burnout in 2024

In recent years, the healthcare industry has experienced radical change. With the COVID-19 pandemic, technological advancements, and other unprecedented events, healthcare workers face unique challenges their peers in other industries don’t encounter. And the result? Physicians are experiencing significant burnout — but with the right solutions, that burnout can be combated.

This article explores practical strategies to reduce physician burnout, from streamlining administrative tasks to enhancing work-life balance. Whether you’re the sole provider at a small independent practice or an operations coordinator for a large healthcare organization, you can take measures to alleviate physician burnout and cultivate a healthy work environment.

Why is Physician Burnout Happening More than Ever in 2024?

Prolonged stress causes physicians to feel burnt out, leading to emotional fatigue, detachment from patients, and decreased job satisfaction. According to the AMA, at least 52% of respondents to a 2022 study cited feeling highly stressed in their current role. But what exactly contributes to these heightened levels of stress among medical professionals?

1. More Americans are seeking healthcare services.

Between an increasingly aging population and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, people seek medical care more frequently than we’ve seen in recent years. Even though there’s a new generation of healthcare workers graduating from medical school to enter the workforce, there’s still more demand than working physicians can meet.

2. Software is outdated or no longer aligns with physicians’ needs.

In 2024, nearly all medical professionals use an EHR, PM software, or other tech solutions — but that doesn’t mean those solutions are meeting the needs of providers. An outdated or irrelevant software system can cause significant problems for physicians if it experiences frequent crashes, doesn’t run well, or doesn’t have the features needed to deliver an excellent patient experience.

3. Providers do not feel supported.

At smaller practices, providers may feel they don’t have the administrative team they need to support patients, run the front desk, and perform other clerical details such as paperwork and insurance filing. At larger organizations, providers may not feel their leadership is giving them the tools and team they need to succeed. Regardless, when physicians don’t feel supported, this can lead to mental exhaustion and feed burnout.

4. Doctors are retiring early.

And finally, these challenges are driving more doctors to retire early. With fewer providers available, already overworked physicians face even heftier caseloads.

When providers experience burnout, patient outcomes can inadvertently become harder to prioritize. And that’s why treating physician burnout is vital when providers feel overworked.

Strategies for Reducing Burnout

In order to address physician burnout, healthcare providers should consider implementing multiple strategies to alleviate work-related pain points. These approaches could include reducing non-clinical tasks, improving software capabilities, and adding telehealth solutions to minimize time spent on cumbersome tasks.

Outsource Billing to RCM Specialists

Delegating billing operations to Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) professionals like Benchmark RCM can reduce physician burnout while improving your organization’s overall financial health. Outsourcing RCM to a dedicated team of specialists takes tasks like coding, billing, and claims management off providers’ workloads. Instead of spending hours a day in front of a computer navigating the complex world of healthcare billing, physicians can focus on spending time with patients, leading to increased client satisfaction and minimized physician stress.

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Upgrade Your Software

If your software isn’t doing some serious heavy lifting, consider switching to a new solution or suite of solutions. Electronic health records, for example, have come a long way since their inception. Modern EHR software can support many time-saving features like case note dictation, automated code recommendations, and more. Practice management software can help you monitor your practice’s day-to-day operations. If you’re fighting with your EHR or PM software, you shouldn’t have to — and we’d love to show you what our user-friendly tools can do.

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Consider Integrating Telehealth Solutions

Telehealth solutions are a highly effective approach to minimizing physician burnout and strengthening primary care physicians’ roles within the healthcare system. Telehealth technology offers more flexibility for patients, fosters remote patient monitoring, and reduces administrative responsibilities since patients can receive care outside the office.

Implement a New Scheduling System

If your practice is booking a high volume of appointments, you may experience relief by simply changing the way you schedule. There are many different methods for staggering appointments, from wave scheduling, to cluster scheduling, and more. You may be able to see a similar amount of patients with less time and effort by shifting to a different scheduling style.

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Reduce Physician Burnout with Benchmark Solutions

Partnering with Benchmark Solutions can allow you to improve your software solutions, billing processes, and workflows to reduce physician burnout. We offer a variety of RCM, EHR, and PM solutions that are designed to help busy providers save time without compromising the patient experience.

With Benchmark RCM, you can:
  • Reduce your AR to under 30 days
  • File more accurate claims
  • Improve your bottom line
  • And more
With Benchmark PM, you can:
  • Schedule appointments with ease
  • Run reports tailored to your liking
  • Get a birds-eye view of your financial operations
  • And more
With Benchmark EHR, you can:
  • Capture case notes quickly and easily
  • Pull records on the fly
  • Automate coding
  • And more

Each of our solutions can be used independently, but when you combine all our services, you can transform your operations into an efficient, well-oiled machine, with top-rated support. If you or your providers are experiencing burnout, we’d love to see if we can help.

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