EHR documentation overload has emerged as a significant cause of ENT burnout. ENT physicians find themselves balancing patient care with time-consuming EHR data entry. Compounding the issue, clinical notes in the U.S. are four times longer than those in other countries, leading to ENT physicians spending more time on data entry than patient interactions. This overwhelming workload is regarded as a major contributor to burnout. Yes, burnout due to excessive documentation requirements is a real concern, and hiring an ENT scribe has become a common solution. Moreover, alleviating the EHR documentation burden can enhance practice efficiency and reduce physician burnout.
What’s the primary factor contributing to ENT physician burnout?
Medscape conducted a survey with 9,100 physicians from 29 specialties. Nearly 61% of ENT physicians reported being burdened by “too many bureaucratic tasks” like charting and paperwork, as well as the “increased computerization of practice.” The next contributing factor identified in the survey was long work hours, at 38%. If ENT physicians are citing long work hours as a source of burnout, imagine how frustrating it is to know that paperwork and bureaucracy are the primary culprits behind extended workdays. The consensus is clear – burdensome administrative work continues to frustrate ENT physicians. They spend an additional 1.84 hours beyond their usual clinic hours, adding up to 9.2 extra hours a week on EHR-related tasks outside of regular clinic hours, as per research published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Is there a way to alleviate this EHR burden? Employing human scribes is one effective method to ease the charting burden for ENT physicians and mitigate burnout.
Are the key factors contributing to ENT burnout related to “time”?
Paperwork and administrative tasks continue to consume ENT physicians’ time daily. According to the Medscape Physician Compensation Report 2023, ENT physicians dedicate approximately 14 hours per week to paperwork and administrative tasks. Spending more time on EHR-related tasks leaves less time for patient care activities, which is their primary source of career satisfaction. ENT physicians already work long hours, and increased demands on their time further wear them down. According to the 2023 Medscape report, excessive hours at work rank third on the list of contributors to burnout. All these factors are connected to “time” – either spending too much time on specific tasks or not enough time with patients. Thus, improving practice efficiency by using an ENT scribe to handle paperwork and administrative tasks can significantly reduce ENT burnout.
Can ENT scribes enhance practice efficiency and revenue?
The consistent use of ENT scribes has been linked to increased productivity and efficiency by reducing the EHR documentation burden. Relieved of the constant note-taking and EHR documentation, ENT physicians become more productive. They can allocate more time to providing care and less time to updating records. This leads to seeing five to eight additional patients per day, ultimately increasing practice revenue. Seeing roughly two new or three returning patients each day is more than enough to make the ENT scribe program profitable within a year.
Conclusion
In summary, ENT scribes present a promising strategy to enhance efficiencies and reduce provider burnout. If you’re an ENT physician grappling with menial tasks and an increased EHR documentation burden, it’s time to consider hiring ENT scribes. They can help improve efficiency and completely offload paperwork and administrative tasks contributing to your burnout. There are many reliable scribe service providers out there who have a team of highly skilled and experienced ENT scribes who can help reduce your documentation burden, while improving efficiency and reducing burnout.