Abstract
[This is an excerpt.] Taking Action Against Clinician Burnout: A Systems Approach to Supporting Professional Well-Being, a 2019 report from the National Academy of Medicine, identifies clinician burnout as a threat to the quality of patient care. Mounting system pressures within the U.S. health care system have contributed to an imbalance in which the demands of the clinician’s job are greater than the resources and supports available to them.
Taking Action Against Clinician Burnout was released before the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Addressing clinician burnout remains critical and more relevant than ever in the context of the pandemic and increased strains placed on the U.S. health care system. The report and its related products ultimately aim to help support clinician well-being and patient care, during COVID-19 and beyond. Targeting health information technology (IT) can be a major opportunity to address workplace hardships and prioritize improvements in work and learning environments in all settings, as the health care workforce was burdened prior to COVID-19 and now faces additional stressors that will have impacts on their health and well-being in the long term.
Health care leaders should implement health IT that supports clinicians in providing high-quality patient care. This requires the engagement of leaders across the organization, including hospital boards, executive officers and senior leaders, department chairs, and administrative and operational leaders, as well as health IT vendors, regulators, policymakers, and end users – clinicians and patients. [To read more, click View Resource.]
This resource is found in our Actionable Strategies for Health Organizations: Improving Workload & Workflows (Reducing Administrative Burdens).
