Journal
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL INFORMATICS ASSOCIATION
Volume 26, Issue 2, Pages 106-114Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/jamia/ocy145
Keywords
professional burnout; occupational stress; medical informatics; electronic health records; health information technology
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Funding
- RIDOH under the CMS Medicaid Health Information Technology Implementation Advance Planning Document for Health Information Exchange (HIT IAPD-HIE), Rhode Island Executive Office of Health and Human Services
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Objective To quantify how stress related to use of health information technology (HIT) predicts burnout among physicians. Methods All 4197 practicing physicians in Rhode Island were surveyed in 2017 on their HIT use. Our main outcome was self-reported burnout. The presence of HIT-related stress was defined by report of at least 1 of the following: poor/marginal time for documentation, moderately high/excessive time spent on the electronic health record (EHR) at home, and agreement that using an EHR adds to daily frustration. We used logistic regression to assess the association between each HIT-related stress measure and burnout, adjusting for respondent demographics, practice characteristics, and the other stress measures. Results Of the 1792 physician respondents (43% response rate), 26% reported burnout. Among EHR users (91%), 70% reported HIT-related stress, with the highest prevalence in primary care-oriented specialties. After adjustment, physicians reporting poor/marginal time for documentation had 2.8 times the odds of burnout (95% CI: 2.0-4.1; P<.0001), compared to those reporting sufficient time. Physicians reporting moderately high/excessive time on EHRs at home had 1.9 times the odds of burnout (95% CI: 1.4-2.8; P<.0001), compared to those with minimal/no EHR use at home. Those who agreed that EHRs add to their daily frustration had 2.4 times the odds of burnout (95% CI: 1.6-3.7; P<.0001), compared to those who disagreed. Conclusion HIT-related stress is measurable, common (about 70% among respondents), specialty-related, and independently predictive of burnout symptoms. Identifying HIT-specific factors associated with burnout may guide healthcare organizations seeking to measure and remediate burnout among their physicians and staff.
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