4 Smart Strategies to Tame the EHR and Cut Physician Burnout

Half of the physician’s day is spent in the EHR and desk work, while more than one-third of time with patients is spent on nonclinical tasks. On top of that, physicians are doing one to two hours of extra work each day, including long hours before and after clinic completing “between visit” work. But with the help of the AMA STEPS Forward® “Taming the Electronic Health Record Playbook,” physician practices and health care organizations can learn how to rein in the EHR workload and cut down on physician “pajama time.”

“The EHR burden is a major contributor to physician burnout, and it has become a problem that individual physicians cannot fix on their own,” the playbook says. “It is imperative for organizations to learn how to ‘tame’ the EHR by implementing effective team-based care principles and responding to feedback for continuous system-level improvement.” This playbook highlights AMA STEPS Forward open-access toolkits, which offer innovative strategies that allow physicians and their teams to thrive in the new health care environment. These toolkits can help prevent physician burnout, create the organizational foundation for joy in medicine and improve practice efficiency.