Several years after the onset of the global pandemic, the medical profession continues to feel the impact in the form of staffing shortages driven largely by burnout. Reports indicate that nearly 1 in 5 physicians intend to leave the field by the end of 2023, and if the trend continues, there may be a staffing shortage of up to 124,000 physicians by 2034.
Neurologists have been impacted by burnout at a higher rate than other medical specializations, and solutions are needed to put time back into their workday. One method for doing so is by addressing repetitive, unbillable time spent filling out medical documentation in the electronic health record (EHR).
Adopting AI-driven medical documentation service aids neurologists in three key areas:
- Alleviating the stressors driving industry-high rates of burnout
- Helping neurologists spend more time seeing patients and less time on technology and administrative tasks
- Increasing patient volume and Work Relative Value Units (wRVUs) captured per encounter
By reducing the pressure of administrative burden, neurologists have been shown to have greater productivity and profitability. But importantly, reducing these stressors can also alleviate the cycle of burnout and staffing shortages that threatens the medical profession at large.
Burnout Rates in Healthcare and the Neurology Specialty
Burnout was a major issue within the healthcare space even before COVID-19 exacerbated the problem. Since the beginning of the pandemic, burnout among clinicians rose from 38.2% to 62.8% and has remained high even as COVID-19 cases have dwindled.
Among specializations, neurology has been hit harder than most by burnout. According to a study conducted by Becker’s Hospital Review, neurologists represent the seventh-highest specialty experiencing burnout among the 29 physician specialties reviewed. The Mayo Clinic projected a 19% shortage of neurologists by 2025, with many choosing to cut back hours and focus on research or administrative work at the expense of patient care.
Understanding what drives burnout and how it can be abated is paramount for the future of healthcare.
What Causes Burnout in Healthcare – Specifically in Neurology?
Burnout isn’t only driven by long workdays and high-pressure environments. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, the primary drivers of burnout in healthcare come from inadequate support, escalating workloads, administrative burdens, underinvestment in public health infrastructure, and the inability to provide proper patient care.
The documentation burden posed by the wide adoption of EHR systems is frequently cited as one of the key drivers in clinician burnout. One study indicates that 57% of physicians attribute burnout to documentation, and 51% attribute burnout to staffing challenges. As more physicians leave the profession or opt for reduced hours, staffing challenges increase, placing a greater burden on the remaining staff and fueling the cycle.
How does burnout affect neurologists specifically? According to the American Academy of Neurology, neurology is the only medical specialty that has one of the highest rates of burnout and the lowest rates of satisfaction with work-life balance. However, while debilitating patient outcomes are a major driver in neurology’s low satisfaction, the causes of burnout mirror those faced by other professions: clerical burden, excessive workloads, and inadequate staff support.
Addressing burnout in neurology has the same relationship as addressing burnout in other specializations: reducing documentation burden. Using solutions like AI to resolve these clerical tasks not only increases the number of productive hours worked, but also improves wRVU capture to ensure greater productivity and profitability.
How to Combat Burnout in Neurology Through AI
AI medical documentation offers a vital solution for treating the leading sources of burnout, putting time back in neurologists’ workdays, and improving overall satisfaction.
AI-driven ambient medical documentation from Augmedix is powered by our proprietary Notebuilder Platform. This platform uses Automated Speech Recognition (ASR) to transcribe the natural conversation between clinicians and patients, then leverages Natural Language Processing (NLP) including Large Language Models (LLMs), and medical documentation specialists, and structured data models to create structured, comprehensive medical notes, which are seamlessly inserted into the patient’s EHR.
Before a visit, Augmedix’s medical documentation products handle pre-charting and digitization of a patient’s previous records and patient history. During a visit, Augmedix captures complaints, diagnoses, medications, specialties, symptoms, and treatments, and summarizes them into medical notes and after-visit summaries. Finally, Augmedix offers point-of-care support including reminders, coding, orders, and referrals – all administrative tasks that a clinician would otherwise have to perform.
On average, clinicians of all specialties spend about one-third of their time documenting patient data in the EHR. Augmedix has been shown to increase clinician satisfaction by 40%, clinician productivity by 20%, and save up to three hours on charting.
How AI Medical Documentation Helps Neurologists Capture More wRVUs
Lost time in a neurologist’s workday doesn’t just amount to higher rates of burnout and lower productivity, but billable revenue as well. As wRVUs can only be measured based on procedures associated with a corresponding CPT code, activities like medical documentation are not billable. The lack of billability means that clinicians who spent a large portion of their workday entering information into the EHR are losing out on potential revenue.
Among specializations, neurological surgeons have some of the highest wRVUs due to the complexity of tasks. Capturing more wRVUs thus offers a unique opportunity for healthcare systems to put time back into their day while accruing more value for their work.
Augmedix measures clinicians based on their wRVUs and EHR efficiency and identifies which can benefit the most from the service, helping improve wRVU per patient capture. The adoption of Augmedix’s AI-driven ambient documentation has been shown to offer a 54% boost to wRVUs per patient encounter among neurologists, the highest of any specialization. Additionally, meeting wRVU requirements depends on retaining patients over time – Augmedix has been shown to improve patient satisfaction.
By leveraging ambient documentation, healthcare establishments can tackle two problems at the same time: reducing pressure on clinicians and accruing more billable hours.
Augmedix is the Answer to Neurologists’ Burnout
Burnout in the medical profession is higher than at any point in recent history. For neurologists, statistics around burnout are even more alarming. To serve the needs of their patients, neurologists need support that addresses the issues triggering burnout: administrative burden, inadequate staffing, and overloaded schedules.
Augmedix helps combat the epidemic of burnout by streamlining information capture in the EHR and reducing administrative burdens. This improvement helps boost neurologists’ sense of well-being, increase the number and quality of patient interactions, and capture more wRVUs per patient.
Interested in learning more? Read our whitepaper on maximizing physician productivity, or watch our webinar on boosting physician retention.