Using a New Model of Electronic Health Record Training to Reduce Physician Burnout: A Plan for Action

Physician burnout in the United States has been growing at an alarming rate, and health care organizations are beginning to invest significant resources in combating this phenomenon. Although the causes for burnout are multifactorial, a key issue that affects physicians is that they spend a significant proportion of their time interacting with their electronic health record (EHR) system, primarily because of the need to sift through increasing amounts of patient data, coupled with a significant documentation burden. This has led to physicians spending increasing amounts of time with the EHR outside working hours trying to catch up on paperwork (“pajama time”), which is a factor linked to burnout. In this paper, we propose an innovative model of EHR training using high-fidelity EHR simulations designed to facilitate efficient optimization of EHR use by clinicians and emphasize the importance of both lifelong learning and physician well-being.