Telehealth Use Linked to More After-Hours Work for Providers

A study published in JMIR Medical Informatics shows that higher telehealth use may lead to more after-hours work for providers, particularly EHR-based work, potentially resulting in higher levels of burnout. 

As providers and patients increasingly adopt telehealth, various questions surrounding its benefits and drawbacks remain. These include whether providers who use telehealth face extra work after hours, leading to increased stress and burnout.

Research published in April revealed that clinician burnout often has a relationship with the likelihood of a provider departing from their position.

The study in JMIR sought to determine whether telehealth could play a role in mitigating this issue or whether virtual care worsened it.

The study included 2,129 physicians across various subspecialties, primarily relating to internal medicine, ambulatory surgery, and general medicine. The primary measure researchers used was clinical load, or work outside of work (WOW), and how it fluctuates depending on the ways in which providers engage in work practices. The WOW calculation consisted of adding scheduled hours and time on unscheduled days.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the frequency of telehealth use increased sharply. However, in-person patient volume dropped. This led researchers to compare variations between WOW daily and WOW per appointment.

When leveled out, WOW was higher when accompanied by telehealth. Researchers made this observation at all stages of the pandemic. They also estimated that any decline in WOW resulted from a lower clinical load rather than telehealth assistance.

Researchers noted several limitations that could have affected study results, mainly relating to difficulties in dissecting EHR data, limited demographic data, and data collection from only one healthcare system during an obscure time frame.

But despite these limitations, researchers concluded that decreasing WOW is not one of the benefits that telehealth can provide.

Clinician burnout, however, is one of the most intractable issues in healthcare, especially amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier this year, the US Surgeon General issued an advisory recommending that healthcare employers improve access to mental healthcare services and reduce the administrative burden to address worker burnout.

Organizations are also entering into partnerships to alleviate the issue.

In August, TidalHealth and Regard announced that they will work together to implement an artificial intelligence (AI)-based software to help clinicians improve the accuracy of the diagnosis process. This AI software can optimize clinician workflows, thereby reducing burnout, the press release notes. It will be integrated into the TidalHealth network, which includes facilities in Maryland and Delaware.