February 2023 COVERstory

There are multiple reasons why burnout and emotional challenges are causing doctors and nurses to seek to change jobs, professions or retire. Provider organizations are already grappling with staffing shortages – as many as 139,000 physician openings over the next 10 years, and some estimate that the U.S. could have 500,000 nurse openings over the same span.

Technology is related to some of that pressure. User interfaces are hard to learn, and records systems have made it harder to find essential information quickly. And current technology exacerbates clinicians’ challenges around documentation loads, after-hours work and having multiple electronic channels for communication.

But a wide variety of systemic pressures – particularly financial shortfalls facing healthcare organizations, personnel shortages linked to demographics, and psychological stress and politically-based verbal abuse related to the pandemic – all have added fuel to the fire burning through clinicians’ ranks.

HDM this month dives deep into the causes – and potential solutions and reasons for hope – and those leaders striving to upend clinician burnout.

Fred Bazzoli, Editor in Chief

As you dive into this COVERstory, we hope you find it becomes a reference helping you:

1. Learn what the latest research shows about the relationship between burnout and technology.
2. Understand what the latest research illustrates about burnout trends.
3. Recognize the strides that have been made to improve technology to lighten clinicians' loads and mitigate burnout risks.
4. Comprehend the tech capabilities that lie on the horizon that may lighten clinician burnout.