With 44 percent of physicians reporting burnout, helping physicians be more efficient can help reduce these effects, according to the American Medical Association.
In a "Saving Time Playbook" released Sept. 29, the organization recommended five ways for orthopedic surgeons can improve efficiency:
1. Cease protocols that add duplicative and non-essential tasks. Try requiring fewer signatures, evaluating training methods and reducing the frequency of attestations.
2. Share work by hiring team members who can take documentation and management tasks from physicians.
3. Adopt a day of the week to do all prescription refills annually. Write refills for 12 to 15 months, instead of having to rewrite refills every month.
4. Hire an IT department to monitor and control physicians' inboxes. It is possible the majority of emails do not need to be sent directly to physicians but rather to other members of the staff.
5. Reduce physician turnover with great organization at the top, and limit the number of physicians with reduced clinical loads.