HIMSSCast: Physicians feel the pressure of doing more with less

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A physician by training, Laudio CEO and cofounder Russ Richmond has seen the impact of burnout on clinicians. It's continuing beyond the stresses of COVID-19, he said, due to physicians having the double duty of patient care and administrative work, the latter most often done, without pay, in the evening at home. Another factor is that caregivers are being asked to see more patients due to labor expense increases.

The bottom line is that physicians feel pressure around volume and speed as everyone is asked to do more with less.

Richmond, whose company offers technology for more streamlined workflows, sees an answer in automation. 

AI, he said, is "the technology of a generation. I think it will change everything."

To hear more, listen to Richmond's conversation with Susan Morse, executive editor of Healthcare Finance News.

Talking points: 

• In the near term, AI will be used to handle the easy tasks such as administrative form filling, listening to conversations and automatically prompting fills and arranging schedules. 
• "It's these automations that seem very simplistic, but in aggregate can really fundamentally change a job, and are the early and, correct in our view, places to focus this wonderful new technology," Richmond said.
• Automation can replace mind-numbing administrative work that is filling physician hours at night.
• People are flooding back to hospitals and their doctors, increasing the volume.
• The expense of labor has increased 30, 40 and even 50%.
• While not in the numbers seen during the pandemic, there is a wholesale turnover in the nursing workforce of about 20 to 30% per year. 
• As a result of turnover, there's a lot of less-experienced staffers. Some workers are new and others may be just showing up that day to fill a necessary gap.

More about this episode:

AI's automation can transform the revenue cycle

Automating prior authorizations through a stand-alone EHR workflow

AI is changing healthcare operations and where investment is going

Emergency medicine physicians top list of most burned-out specialties

Current prior authorization practices are adding to burnout, surgeon general says

Automation can help alleviate worker burnout

Twitter: @SusanJMorse
Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org