Burnout, an occupational hazard caused by cumulative workplace stress, often results in emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a diminished sense of professional achievement. Specifically, healthcare worker burnout correlates with reduced workplace satisfaction, lower productivity, poor mental health, and even negative health outcomes.
Let’s discuss healthcare worker burnout—including trends to watch for—and how to combat it using digital health automation.
Healthcare worker burnout is on the rise in Canada—a substantial problem in recent years. In spring 2020, the prevalence of severe burnout was around 30-40%. By spring 2021, rates greater than 60% were found in Canadian physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals—and they’re still increasing today.
Some of the latest healthcare worker burnout trends to watch for are:
As of April 2022, 266,900 healthcare workers reported working overtime—the highest number ever recorded in Canada. Facing staffing shortages, public health officials and healthcare organizations are taking action to encourage even more overtime hours.
Ontario hospitals are offering nurses double pay for extra shifts to cover staffing shortfalls; Alberta has lifted a cap on daily physician billings to incentivize increased workloads; and Québec policies mandating overtime and forcing part-time nurses to double workloads have sparked protests.
Nearly half of family doctors surveyed by the College of Family Physicians of Canada reported working beyond their desired capacity. The same survey revealed that high or severe work-related burnout is experienced around four times more by family physicians working beyond their desired capacity than those working at the desired rate.
Presenteeism, or working when in poor mental or physical health, is also a problem in healthcare. A prospective study of 258 hospital nurses over three years found that job demands, including workload and perceived demands from patients, contributed to working when sick, which, in turn, was associated with burnout.
Healthcare worker burnout is consistently correlated with depression, anxiety, and, in some, thoughts of suicide. In fact, there has been a sharp increase in the proportion of respondents reporting burnout and suicidal ideation in recent years—all the more reason to address healthcare worker burnout.
How can healthcare leaders combat healthcare worker burnout? The answer lies in digital health automation.
Using technology for digital health automation helps to reduce healthcare workloads, overtime hours, instances of presenteeism, and poor mental health. Automating manual, time-consuming tasks and improving clinical efficiency helps healthcare workers clock fewer hours and focus on being more present on the job while they’re working.
A number of different software features make this possible: Akinox’s digital health automation solution can handle routine administrative tasks, such as appointment scheduling and automated reminders, management of pre- and post-visit questionnaires, optimal patient routing, data entry, and more.
Managing appointments is challenging for healthcare workers—especially without the right technology to provide support. Akinox’s appointment management features, such as patient self-scheduling and automated reminders, reduce the administrative burden for staff. Better yet, API integrations for scheduling make the process even easier!
Patient intake, routing, and referrals can all be very cumbersome for healthcare workers who are overwhelmed with administrative tasks. However, tools such as Akinox’s automated pre- and post-visit questionnaires help assess the criticality or condition of the patient within the framework of a specific care pathway.
Data is a driving force in healthcare, but it can be hard to manage with so much available. Akinox’s digital front door solution provides complete patient information in one central location, which not only reduces the chance of inappropriate or duplicated services but also makes it easier for healthcare workers to access the data they need with ease and efficiency.
Plus, interoperability in healthcare improves communication and collaboration between patients, providers, and family members so that everyone in the circle of care is included in clinical decision-making. This way, referrals and care transitions are streamlined for healthcare workers.
Akinox’s digital health automation results speak for themselves: Our digital front door solution—which features intelligent triage and automation capabilities—has enabled a 35% reduction in interactions that required a healthline clinician in September 2022.
This is just one example of how automation is reducing workloads and the administrative burden for healthcare workers—and minimizing burnout in the process. Curious about how our innovative, industry-leading technology can help you do just that? Contact us!