Study Links Rising Burnout to
EHR E X P A N S I O N BY STEVE BARRETT
PHYSICIAN BURNOUT IS NOT NE W. THE SPEED AT WHICH IT IS SPRE ADING MAY BE.
T H E R AT E O F bu r nout a mon g U. S . phy s i-
cia ns rose f rom 45. 5 percent to 54.4 percent
between 2011 and 2014, according to a 2018 study
by resea rchers at the Universit y of Ca lifornia ,
R iverside School of Medicine.
Among factors noted in the study, published in
the American Journal of Medicine, are frustration
with patients who frequently cha nge physicia ns
a nd do not va lue continuit y of ca re, a s well a s
insurance company-imposed limits on treatment.
Drilling down into data rega rding physicia n
satisfaction, however, t he resea rchers poi nt
to ma ndator y EHR use a s a li kely sig nif ica nt
contributor to the problem. Time spent f illing
out EH R s creat es a n enor mous bu rden t hat
f ur t her saps physicia ns' abi lit y to enjoy their
work, they found.
"Doctors now spend more time with electronic
health records than they do with patients," study
co-author Andrew G. Alexander, MD, states in a
news release about the findings. "Electronic health
records were pushed by the government at great
expense and without regard to the effects upon
patient or physician health. Go into any hospital
and look for the nurses and the doctors. You will
find them sitting in front of computers. They are
not happy, and their patients are not healthier."
Physicia ns in emergency medicine, fa mily
medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics had
the highest levels of burnout. n
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