When you walk the halls of today’s hospitals, you will find most care providers not at the bedside, but at a computer. The complexities of clinical documentation and compliance have become a full-time job for providers. In fact, physicians spend an estimated 4.5 hours per day working within EHRs.
This documentation time spills into their evenings and weekends, so called “pajama time”. As Dr. Ryan Nicholas, chief quality officer at Mercy Medical Group recently told R1, “The administrative side of healthcare is a source of provider burnout and frustration.”
The hidden costs of physician burnout
Physician burnout is a critical issue with far-reaching consequences. A study from the American Medical Association shows 48% of physicians reported feelings of burnout in the United States. The cost of this burnout is staggering. Estimates suggest the hidden costs of physician turnover, including recruitment costs, signing bonuses, onboarding and lost billings, is approximately two to three times a physician’s annual salary. This means a health system can lose over $1 million by losing just one physician to burnout, hitting a health system’s finances hard.
The use of AI in the form of ambient listening or medical scribing presents a promising step towards improving this pervasive problem. Ambient technology securely records and creates transcripts of patient/provider conversations, which are then turned into clinical notes using AI. Once the provider has reviewed, edited and signed the note, it becomes part of the patient’s electronic health record.
Dr. Mark Moseley, President at USF Tampa General Physicians, says this technology can help reduce documentation time by several minutes per patient, which can really add up over the course of a day and help reduce provider frustration and burnout. “This is a way for administrative leaders to do something very tangible for providers. It can give them part of their life back and restore some of the joy of practicing medicine,” Dr. Mosely said.
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How AI can transform clinical practices and restore physician balance
AI technologies, such as ambient listening and virtual scribe systems, have the ability to make a real difference when it comes to documentation. These technologies can significantly reduce the time physicians spend on this time-consuming task. Instead of staring at a computer screen and typing while interacting with patients, physicians can be more present with their patients, giving them the ability to deliver better care.
Between improved work-life balance and patient care, the number of providers using this technology is growing rapidly. In fact, MGMA recently published research stating more than 40% of medical practices are using an ambient AI solution.
Nick Olsen, CFO at Sanford Health, told R1 about their ambient listening pilot program and shared physician excitement for this tool moving forward. “One of our physicians piloted the program and said for the first time in a long time he was able to go home at 5pm with all his notes complete. He ate dinner with his family and spent the evening with his teenage daughter. He was very excited about how this technology can help transform his overall lifestyle.”
AI can also play a role in helping ease the ongoing burdens of physician shortages. The Association of American Medical Colleges projects the US will face a physician shortage of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036. Nick Barcellona, CFO at WVU Medicine states AI technology can help supplement physicians to make them more effective at their roles. “We already don’t have enough physicians, so the more we can use AI and technology to supplement and make them more effective at their roles, the better,” said Mr. Barcellona.
Addressing complex documentation and reimbursement challenges
Complex documentation requirements are at the core of many administrative burdens in healthcare. Physicians, nurses and case managers often spend nights and weekends focused on back-and-forth documentation work. Yet despite all the extra work hours, providers still face errors and payment delays.
Highlighting these challenges, Dr. Dave Dunkle, CEO of Johnson Memorial Health, shares his experiences. “Getting paid for care provided is a significant challenge. Just to get paid, I’ve had to add a greater percentage of revenue cycle employees than employees at the bedside. That’s a real problem,” he said.
Ambient listening is the first step in creating the initial documentation, but to really reduce administrative burdens and maximize reimbursed, another step is needed.
The use of AI-powered coding and documentation solutions are the next step in the process, as this is where much of the time-consuming back-and-forth documentation work occurs. This two-step approach of using ambient listening and AI clinical documentation solutions is a comprehensive way to reduce manual work, while maximizing reimbursement without delay.
Prioritizing AI solutions for clinical documentation, regulatory and compliance functions is essential to ensure proper coding and the submission of clean claims, which are the best defense against denials. This approach can help reduce documentation and claim errors and improve the speed and accuracy of claims, allowing providers to avoid downcoding and get paid faster for care already provided. What providers need is a clinical documentation platform that streamlines query resolution and reduces physician ‘pajama time,’ offering considerable process and communication advantages.
While ambient listening is a step in the right direction towards strong documentation, it’s not enough on its own. The documentation, regulatory and compliance landscape is too complex, and the only way to conquer them is to combine deep expertise with AI tools. When this approach is taken, processes will be streamlined, claims will be clean and reimbursement will improve. The key is to integrate the right tools. The financial health of your organization will thank you.
Key takeaways
- Physician burnout and inefficiency are costly issues. This technology can help physicians, nurses and case managers with the time-consuming task of initial documentation, the first step in preparing a claim for submission.
- When seeking out this technology it is important to thoroughly vet any AI product before implementation to ensure data security and privacy compliance.
- As healthcare documentation and compliance continue to become more complex, it is also important to find a partner with a proven track record of utilizing best practices for clinical documentation, regulatory alignment and coding.
- As AI continues to evolve, its role in healthcare will become even more integral, promising further advancements in efficiency, accuracy and ultimately, the well-being of both physicians and patients.
