How athena health EMR Tackles Physician Burnout in 2021

Posted by Amy Jackson on May 25th, 2021

Physician burnout has been a problem in the healthcare industry for as long as it has been a field to work in - after all, the long hours, emotional toll, and stress can get to anyone. In recent years, due to the COVID pandemic, this issue has only gotten more pervasive. However, athena health EMR is working on making the field safer for doctors.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Physician Burnout

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had an effect on pretty much every aspect of our lives - whether it’s our daily habits, our lifestyle, or our mental health. Physicians are no different, and they’ve been hit hard. As the people on the frontlines as we deal with this disease, reports are now showing there is an increase in burnout rates when it comes to practitioners. 

This burnout increase is being seen the most in physicians who are in critical care and working with infectious disease control and has been seriously impacted with worries around their personal safety, isolation, and uncertainty about their financial futures. This is impacting not just people’s work, but also their degree of happiness in general life. 

Although physician burnout has always been an issue impacting doctors, with more than half of patients stating they’ve been burned out,  it is notable that the effects have only been exacerbated due to the ongoing pandemic. With reports showing one in every five doctors state they have been in the exhaustive state since last year. 

About athena health EMR

Athena health EMR is a software provider that works with practices and other health organizations in order to improve their workflow and productivity so they can improve on their clinical, administrative, and financial outcomes.

Athena builds the technology that they create as part of a sustainable ecosystem, through which both patients and doctors can find easier solutions to the problems that they face in the ‘traditional’ medical system. 

What makes the athena health EMR cost worthwhile is the idea that it believes in healthcare as a system where all the parts must be involved, engaged, and satisfied for the machine to work well and create meaningful results. 

For providers looking to invest in the software, an athena health EMR demo is available so they can see the software in real-time and decide if it is right for their practice. 

EMR As A Tool for Reduced Burnout

There is no doubt that electronic medical record software has changed the medical industry. They make things easier, smoother, and seamless. However, they also have been linked with an increase in burnout. The problem isn’t the software though - the problem seems to be that the fatigue translates over even in the digital space. 

Inefficiencies in the clinical workflow have a serious impact on the wellbeing of practitioners, and the doctors that are using EMR the most in short bursts have been found to experience more burnout because of the struggle that they face in adapting to the EMR itself. The more time it demands and the more the number of clicks, the more stress that physicians face.

When researchers have looked into this phenomenon, they found that the interventions that had a real impact on burnout rates in different clinics were largely connected to optimization.

The more optimized the EMR was at a particular clinic, the less the time is needed to get it to work smoothly, and hence there was less stress associated with it. A similar result was seen when there was adequate training required, the documentation was made easier, and the workflow was adapted in the software. 

athena health EMR Tools For Physician Burnout

When thinking of ways to tackle the pervasive issue of physician burnout, it has been found that making the tasks that physicians take care of, such as maintaining flowsheets, can have an impact in reducing the stress that physicians face. 

In order to play its part in reducing burnout in the medical field, athena health EMR has created a solution - medical coding. Instead of having physicians spend hours and hours trying to figure out codes that they need to get their claims accepted, the solution will automate the entire process and make it much easier. 

On average, it has been found that doctors can spend up to an hour and a half - above their average work time, that is - trying to figure out how to carry out the coding. It is therefore essential to reduce that time so doctors have more time for patients and for rest after a busy day at the office. 

The coding platform will connect users of athena health EMR to experts who know what the different codes mean, how they can be used, and how to avoid claim errors. Direct communication with these experts is part of the program, so physicians don’t have to start a whole new process to get access to their expertise. 

athena health EMR review of the coding platform already indicates that it has an impact - it seems that having access to this tool has shown a reduction of up to half the average time when it comes to identifying and using codes in claims. 

The entire process becomes streamlined for doctors because they can access it directly through the EHR software, which means all of the information they are looking for - notes, charts, etc., can all be directly accessed on the spot. And the best part is, the experts are always there for help and communication with the codes. 

How to Access athena health EMR Medical Coding

Are you looking to use this tool to reduce physician burnout rates? If so, you can connect and use it immediately if you are on the Collector, Clinicals, or the suite pricing plans. At the moment, the tool can only be accessed if you have a maximum of seven physicians. 

Conclusion

At the end of the day, physician burnout is an issue that can only be solved with a transformation of culture in the medical profession. With companies like athena health EMR working to bring about that change, it is slowly becoming an inevitability. 

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Amy Jackson

About the Author

Amy Jackson
Joined: July 10th, 2020
Articles Posted: 59

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