The increasing administrative burden, particularly documentation tasks, has significantly contributed to physician burnout. From tedious paperwork to complex electronic health record systems, physicians often spend a substantial amount of time on non-clinical tasks. Learn the impacts below. Need help? We have customized solutions for your practice. Get with us before you feel the burn out — and start 2025 STRONG. 

Despite recent efforts to reduce the documentation burden in medicine — including the “Patients Over Paperwork” initiative and the 2021 changes to the documentation guidelines for E/M services — a large majority of doctors say they’re still spending too much time and effort on documentation.

The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) conducted a survey of health care professionals earlier this year to capture their perceptions about documentation burden. Of the 1,253 responses, 452 were from physicians.

Survey findings

• 75% of physicians said they had not seen a noticeable recent decrease in the time or effort it takes them to complete documentation tasks,
• 83% said they did not believe the amount of time and effort they spent documenting patient care was appropriate,
• 84% said they finish work later than desired or have to do additional work at home because of excessive documentation tasks,
• 81% said the time and effort required to complete documentation tasks impedes patient care,
• 22% said they found it easy to document patient care using their EHR.

The AMIA plans to conduct the “pulse survey” twice each year — in the spring and fall. The deadline to take the next survey is Sept. 26.

For strategies to help address documentation burden, visit the “Coding & EHR Documentation” section of FPM’s “Administrative Simplification” topic collection

Simplify your practice, reduce administrative burdens, and focus on patient care. Let us handle your medical and dental billing, so you can spend more time doing what you love. Schedule your free consultation with Kevin Rausch to get all your questions answered. Book here.

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Reference: [https://www.aafp.org/pubs/fpm/blogs/inpractice/entry/amia-survey.html]

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