How TeleNeurology Can Prevent Burnout in Clinicians

Clinician burnout is the name given to a syndrome where clinicians experience a large amount of job-related stress and feel unmotivated, overwhelmed or, as the name implies, burned out. While burnout is a large problem throughout the professional landscape, medical professionals and clinicians are at an even higher risk of experiencing it, considering the stressful nature of their jobs. Clinician burnout has become even more prominent given the ongoing circumstances regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

Clinician burnout commonly affects nurses, physicians, and other essential medical professionals. Burnout is especially prevalent in physicians-in-training, with an overall burnout rate of 69%, and a 78% rate among surgical residents. Ongoing research has found physician burnout is a growing concern for clinicians and medical students of all types.

While clinician burnout affects each person differently, some common symptoms are more likely to occur. Research has found physicians between 40 and 54 years old experience the highest rate of burnout when compared to older or younger doctors. Understanding some of the most common symptoms can help you identify burnout before it worsens.

Clinician burnout symptoms include:

• Exhaustion and fatigue: Exhaustion and fatigue are two of the most common signs of being burned out. Even with proper amounts of sleep, many clinicians still feel tired or fatigued throughout their day. When burned out, many clinicians feel a sense of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion that can be challenging to handle.
• Lack of motivation: Because of ongoing mental and physical fatigue and stress, many clinicians may become unmotivated or lose sight of goals. Some clinicians may even deal with doubts about the purpose and overall quality of the work they provide. Additionally, some clinicians may become concerned they may make a mistake or lose all motivation for their job if these feelings of being burned out continue.
• Stress and anxiety: Many clinicians report feeling continually stressed, worried, or anxious about their position and responsibilities. This stress may even continue long after they leave the office, inhibiting their ability to enjoy personal time, which can worsen negative emotions.
• Negative outlook: Medical professionals often seek a position in the health care industry to help patients and make a difference in the daily lives of many. If clinicians are burned out, they may become more critical or negative about their responsibilities and feel they are not making much of a difference. This outlook can negatively impact the mood and ability to perform responsibilities quickly and efficiently.
• Lifestyle changes: Stress and anxiety can negatively impact many aspects of a clinician’s life, even their life outside of the office. Some physicians may experience a loss of appetite or be unable to get a good night’s rest.

As clinician burnout is a common occurrence, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, for many medical professionals, it is important to understand how to reduce the likelihood of burnout from occurring. While each office or hospital is unique, there are many changes and suggestions that can help reduce the burden placed on clinicians.

To reduce the chances of clinician burnout, consider these tips:

• Foster a positive working environment: The environment clinicians work in plays a large role in how they view their job and experience any stress or negative feelings. A positive working environment can ease negative emotions and stress while promoting productivity, efficiency, and collaboration.
• Focus on leadership development: One important step to reduce clinician burnout and improve the working environment is to enhance leadership. Leadership roles within any organization directly influence job satisfaction and job-related stress. Employing and teaching leaders who will effectively manage and lead physicians is essential to reduce clinician burnout.
• Offer clinician support: Support to clinicians and medical staff can provide a productive outlet for health care providers. Professional and emotional support can benefit clinicians and allow them to work through negative thoughts that, if left unmentioned, may worsen symptoms of burnout.
• Provide flexible working arrangements: One of the leading contributors to clinician burnout is long work hours and a rigid schedule that can cause stress for some clinicians. Offering more fluid and flexible working arrangements can reduce stress, increase productivity, and help clinicians work more reasonable hours for a better work-life balance.
• Consider telemedicine: Telemedicine and teleneurology services can benefit both patients and clinicians. Telemedicine can improve patients’ access to care and streamline various responsibilities and tasks for clinicians. Telemedicine is an innovative option growing in popularity because it allows clinicians to stay in control of their schedule and on top of their duties.

Clinician burnout can be challenging, directly impacting a clinician’s personal and professional life. Because many clinicians work in stressful environments, such as hospitals, emergency rooms or private practices, they can be more prone to experiencing burnout. Proactively approaching clinician burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic and preventing it from occurring in the first place is of the utmost importance. Telemedicine provides numerous benefits and can improve burnout:

1. Improve Work-Life Balance: One way telemedicine reduces burnout is by promoting a healthy work-life balance. Telemedicine allows clinicians to work from home, improving various aspects of work-life balance, including commute time and in-office time. Work-life balance is an important priority of many clinicians, with 92% of millennial physicians agreeing it is important to strike a work-life balance, with only 65% feeling they have achieved this in their careers. Improving work-life balance can help clinicians focus on important responsibilities while at work and home. Without proper time management, many clinicians may become stressed trying to balance all aspects of both professional and personal obligations, potentially distracting them throughout the day and inhibiting their ability to focus intently.
2. Optimize Clinician Schedules: Another benefit of addressing neurologist burnout is allowing clinicians to optimize their schedules to increase productivity and efficiency. In many cases, a telemedicine visit may be more efficient and shorter than in-office visits yet provide the same level of effective care patients need. Shorter and more efficient appointments allow clinicians to optimize their routine instead of rushing through appointments to catch up to their schedules. Patients spend less time in waiting rooms and have a more streamlined experience with telemedicine appointments. While many people may think telemedicine largely affects patients, it also provides numerous benefits to the physician. When clinicians can manage their schedules with telemedicine, they can make their schedules more efficient, reducing the potential for clinician burnout.
3. Cut Down on Commutes: While some physicians may live close enough to their place of work that a commute is not a strain on their daily schedule, some physicians may have long commutes in addition to clinical responsibilities. Studies have shown approximately 50% of professionals find commuting to and from work a stressful experience. Longer commute times also have the potential to lead to traffic jams and other stressful experiences. After a shift, many clinicians find their commute leads to feeling tired, overwhelmed, and burned out. The effects of a commute may be worsened if a clinician is already stressed about a potentially difficult day.
4. Promote a Sense of Control: Another important aspect in addressing burnout in clinicians is to provide a higher sense of autonomy and control, which is especially important during the pandemic. When clinicians feel more in control of their schedule and responsibilities, they can work more effectively and efficiently. Without a sense of control or autonomy, many clinicians may begin to feel overwhelmed, potentially leading to a feeling of being burned out or worn down.
5. Increase Level of Patient Care: Improving a patient’s experience can be a rewarding feeling for clinicians. Most clinicians pursued a career in the medical field to help people and improve patients’ lives. When clinicians become distracted by stressful schedules, they may become discouraged because they cannot provide the level of care they want to their patients. Telemedicine lets clinicians focus on improving the overall patient care level and reduce feeling burned out.
6. Allow for More Time with Patients: By creating a more manageable and accessible schedule, clinicians can spend the appropriate amount of time with patients without feeling rushed through their schedules. Improving a patient’s access to care and enhancing the overall experience can help avoid telemedicine burnout and streamline various responsibilities. In many cases, clinicians may feel rushed trying to move from patient to patient as quickly as possible from the high numbers of patients due to COVID-19, contributing to feelings of stress and frustration. Feeling rushed and unable to provide the highest level of care can negatively affect many clinicians. Rushing from appointment to appointment can be discouraging and lead to telemedicine burnout over time.
   
7. Enhance Coordination and Collaboration: The health care industry is a team-based field that requires collaboration and coordination to be effective. Care coordination and effective collaboration are important aspects of providing a high level of care while reducing clinician stress. Fortunately, telemedicine platforms feature a team-oriented design to make distributing tasks and responsibilities a simpler process. Clinicians have many important responsibilities to perform each day to ensure patients receive proper care. Clinicians may feel overwhelmed with the number of tasks they need to do in one day, leading to stress, anxiety and a feeling of being burned out. Improving coordination and communication can help to relieve stress on clinicians and provide them with a sense of connection to their fellow team members.
   
8. Minimize In-Office Hours: One of the main benefits of telemedicine is it can minimize the total hours a clinician spends in the office, promoting a healthier work-life balance. Telemedicine encourages clinicians to complete administrative work and other duties within the virtual visit itself rather than staying after office hours to complete these critical tasks. When clinicians delay administrative work until later in the day, they often spend more time working in the office and less time focusing on personal responsibilities they may have. Minimizing the time spent in-office can be a useful tool in encouraging normal working hours and a healthier work-life balance, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

TeleSpecialists is a leading provider of telemedicine and teleneurology services. We pride ourselves on offering a turnkey solution for on-call services for your health care facility. Our physician leadership consists of highly respected and talented physicians trained in their unique fields. Our team helps design clinical programs to help you achieve your facility’s goals, including stroke and critical care programs.

Some of our most popular services include:

• TeleStroke: TeleStroke is a virtual service where clinicians can examine a suspected stroke patient over a video call to assess their symptoms. TeleStroke services allow clinicians to quickly and efficiently evaluate and treat patients to improve a hospital’s reaction time and overall patient treatment. Urgent assessment and treatment are necessary for potential stroke patients.
• TeleNeuroHospitalist Rounding: TeleNeuroHospitalist Rounding offers follow-up appointments for retained stroke patients. This service can provide routine neurological consults for newly admitted patients. Our TeleNeurologists address diverse neurological symptoms, including vertigo, migraines, seizures, dizziness, lumbar radiculopathy, and more.
• TelePsychiatry: TelePsychiatry includes a detailed implementation process, quality management collaboration, and ongoing scheduling support through our rapid response center (RRC). Our TelePsychiatry services provide routine consultations from board-certified psychiatrists for children, adolescents, and adults. TelePsychiatrists can offer comprehensive evaluations and assessments and suggest potential treatments or care recommendations.
• TeleEEG: TeleEEG complements TeleStroke and TeleNeuroHospitalist Rounding services and offers remote electroencephalogram (EEG) interpretation services through telemedicine. You will gain access to experienced neurologists who can effectively interpret EEGs, helping your staff achieve consistent electroencephalogram turnaround times.
• Delegated Credentialing: We are proud to offer Delegated Credentialing, also referred to as credentialing by proxy. As telemedicine continues to evolve and grow in popularity, in-house credentialing resources may be strained. Delegated Credentialing alleviates the internal credentialing team’s workload, allowing your team to process credentialing packets faster.
  

TeleSpecialists is a leading management service organization offering emergent and nonemergent neurology patient care through telemedicine. We have partnered with some of the most renowned health systems to improve access to care for patients looking for neurology expertise. Our goal is to positively impact the lives of all patients by offering superior patient care and neurological services.

To learn more about our services, contact us online today or call 1-866-785-7769.