Physician Burnout in the Electronic Health Record Era: Are We Ignoring the Real Cause?
Authors: N. Lance Downing, David W. Bates, Christopher A. Longhurst
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2018)

Ideas and Opinions3 July 2018Physician Burnout in the Electronic Health Record Era: Are We Ignoring the Real Cause?N. Lance Downing, MD, David W. Bates, MD, MSc, and Christopher A. Longhurst, MD, MSN. Lance Downing, MDStanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California (N.L.D.)Search for more papers by this author, David W. Bates, MD, MScBrigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts (D.W.B.)Search for more papers by this author, and Christopher A. Longhurst, MD, MSUniversity of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, San Diego, California (C.A.L.)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/M18-0139 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Physician burnout is reaching crisis proportions in the United States (1). Studies have noted a rising prevalence of emotional fatigue. One study suggested that more than half of physicians in some disciplines are burned out and that this proportion is increasing. The number of clinicians leaving the workforce represents a major concern to health care professionals and to the health of the nation. Many factors contribute, but the physician's interaction with electronic health records (EHRs) is especially important now that EHRs have been broadly adopted across the country.Although EHRs have great potential to improve care, they may also have ...References1. Shanafelt TD, Hasan O, Dyrbye LN, et al. Changes in burnout and satisfaction with work-life balance in physicians and the general US working population between 2011 and 2014. Mayo Clin Proc. 2015;90:1600-13. [PMID: 26653297] doi:10.1016/j.mayocp.2015.08.023 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Tai-Seale M, Olson CW, Li J, et al. 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[PMID: 29132154]. doi:10.7326/M17-0583 LinkGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California (N.L.D.)Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts (D.W.B.)University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, San Diego, California (C.A.L.)Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M18-0139.Corresponding Author: N. Lance Downing, MD, 1265 Welch Road, Room X265, Stanford, CA 94035; e-mail, [email protected]edu.Current Author Addresses: Dr. Downing: 1265 Welch Road, Room X265, Stanford, CA 94035.Dr. Bates: Harvard University, 1620 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02120.Dr. Longhurst: University of California, San Diego, 9560 Towne Centre Drive #100, San Diego, CA 92121.Author Contributions: Conception and design: N.L. Downing, C.A. Longhurst.Analysis and interpretation of the data: N.L. Downing, C.A. Longhurst.Drafting of the article: N.L. Downing, D.W. Bates, C.A. Longhurst.Critical revision of the article for important intellectual content: N.L. Downing, D.W. Bates, C.A. Longhurst.Final approval of the article: N.L. Downing, D.W. Bates, C.A. Longhurst.Administrative, technical, or logistic support: D.W. Bates, C.A. Longhurst.Collection and assembly of data: N.L. Downing, C.A. Longhurst.This article was published at Annals.org on 8 May 2018. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoPhysician Burnout in the Electronic Health Record Era Donald E. Girard Physician Burnout in the Electronic Health Record Era Mukesh Kapoor Physician Burnout in the Electronic Health Record Era N. Lance Downing , David W. Bates , and Christopher A. 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CuresElectronic Health Records: Where to Go From Here? 3 July 2018Volume 169, Issue 1Page: 50-51KeywordsComputersDisclosureElectronic medical recordsHealth careHealth economicsHealth information technologyMotivationPatient advocacyPatientsSystematic reviews ePublished: 8 May 2018 Issue Published: 3 July 2018 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2018 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...