Clinician burnout — ranked among the top issues in healthcare year after year – certainly hasn’t decreased considering the pandemic. COVID-19, ongoing regulatory changes, and complex payer requirements have only exacerbated the strain on those of us who strive to practice hands-on medicine. The “Great Resignation” and an ongoing shortage of qualified staff across all healthcare settings are further evidence that if we don’t do something to relieve documentation burden, the U.S. healthcare crisis will get even worse.

But as a physician, I know the solution is more nuanced than simply “less documentation.” For instance, more thorough notes from my colleagues about persistent ear infections always helped when I was in the exam room with other doctors' patients. Clinician after clinician featured in athenahealth’s new research on the duration and quality of time spent in an EHR agree: They applaud documentation efforts that contribute to delivering better patient care. The crux of the problem is that legacy EHR technology wasn’t designed to tell a patient story, but to support billing and regulatory requirements. Clinicians often must enter the same information in multiple places. These tasks add to their workload and obscure patient information that should not only be quicker and easier to access but curated so that only the most relevant information is surfaced at the right time. The way healthcare is structured today gives physicians two jobs – one clinical and one administrative – but they are only trained and compensated for the clinical role.