How Chronic Care Management Software Solving the Staff Burnout Issue in Healthcare Industry

Amol Shete
May 16, 2024
2:27 pm
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Do you and your medical staff feel burnout at work?

Well, you’re not alone, and you probably know that.

Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that healthcare providers face around five days of poor mental health. This has become a serious problem as the poor mental health of healthcare workers has been on a significant rise since 2022.

To worsen the situation, the Mayo Clinic reported an increase in emotional exhaustion by 38.6%, and Forbes, on the other hand, reported an increasing cynicism in the healthcare industry, adding to burnout rates in the healthcare workforce. Treating patients with poor mental health can lead to serious effects on patient care delivery and health outcomes.

And if you try to find a connection, the rising chronic conditions in the rising population are one of the reasons for the increased burden on the industry worldwide.

But have you ever tried to find a way to provide care without being physically and mentally exhausted?

Well, here’s the catch! Chronic care management software and other care coordination solutions can effectively solve the burnout issue in your healthcare staff.

So, if you are looking for a way to solve the healthcare provider burnout problem in your practice, this blog is for you!

In this blog, let’s see how CCM software can reduce your burden and increase the efficiency of your clinical practices.

Understanding the Causes of Healthcare Provider Burnout

Before getting into the intricacies of CCM software for reducing burnout, let’s first try to understand the causes of burnout in the healthcare industry. And it is not a secret anymore that the healthcare industry is understaffed and it can be seen from our nearest clinics to large multi-facility hospitals.

This has increased the pressure on healthcare providers to extend their shifts, and enough stories about this can be found on social media. Along with that, the healthcare system in the US is quite complex. This adds an additional administrative burden on healthcare providers. The very nature of the time constraint of healthcare makes these healthcare professionals lose control over their practice.

Due to this, healthcare providers like you feel pressured at work, blurring the line of work-life balance. Burnout is caused when a person feels emotionally, physically, and mentally exhausted. This makes it hard for individuals to carry out normal tasks effectively. However, when it is seen by healthcare providers, it can have adverse effects on patient care.

Rather than helping the patient to improve their health, wrong care plans and treatment can lead to deteriorating health. That is why it is important to recognize the issue of burnout in the healthcare industry and find a proactive way to deal with it.

How Chronic Care Management Software Prevents Burnout?

Anticipating this problem back in 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) initiated a Chronic Care Management program to reduce the pressure on healthcare providers and also the overall expenditure on healthcare services.

So, how can you reduce provider burnout with CCM software? Let’s find that out.

1. Reduced Administrative Burden

The very first thing that CCM software brings to your practice is that it simplifies the documentation process. Along with that, it analyzes the data and reports in a unique way that makes it easier for everyone to understand. This saves time in the documentation, data analysis, and reporting.

Along with that, by introducing the CPT Codes (Current Procedural Terminology Codes), the CMS even brought a structure to the billing process. Covering all the aspects of care services, you can use specific codes for the service you provide and bill the patient accordingly.

Furthermore, by bringing the healthcare administration into a digital landscape, it completely eliminated the paperback practices. This allowed the providers to spend more time on patient interaction, improving the efficiency of their care practice and reducing administrative burnout.

2. Optimize Time Management

It was depicted that healthcare providers spend 34% of their time on documentation; here, CCM software for reducing burnout can be by giving patients more control of their health. Since the software automates the appointment scheduling process and the digital records shift completely eliminates the process of manual documentation, providers can effectively use their time to treat patients who are in need.

Along with that, providers can connect with patients at their convenience and better manage their time for treatment. Going a step further, the chronic care management software has also made practice easier by automating appointment reminders and integrating telehealth platforms over the software.

3. Enhance Care Coordination

Lack of coordination between care providers can lead to frustration and even burnout from spending a significant amount of time on the same thing. The impact of CCM software on provider well-being can be achieved through enhanced coordination.

With integration with different healthcare systems and features like ‘secure messaging,’ you can seamlessly connect with other healthcare providers in real time. This way, you can make sure that every care team member is on the same page, working towards the same goal, reducing the time to delivery.

By facilitating collaboration between primary care physicians and specialists, data-driven healthcare practices can be instilled in the workflow, and informed decisions about patient health can be made. This way, the communication gaps are shortened, and continuity in patient care can be maintained.

4. Improve Patient Engagement

One of the effective strategies to reduce provider burnout with CCM software is improving patient engagement. The chronic care management software already gives patients control of their health by empowering them by giving them educational material and involving them at every step of their care planning.

Such strategies not only encourage them to adhere to the dedicated treatment plan but also increase their active participation in their care journey. Along with that, by giving them access to remote monitoring tools, patients can track their health metrics, reducing another burden on healthcare providers.

By improving patient engagement with CCM software, healthcare providers will just have to overlook their patients and intervene only when it is extremely necessary.

5. Promote Data-Driven Decisions

Data-driven practices have been there in the healthcare industry for a long time now; however, it’s tiring to analyze huge amounts of data and come to conclusions about patient health. Finding that crucial insightful data amongst paper files can be a daunting task. This is where the CCM software comes into the picture; it accurately analyzes the data and helps you with accurate information about patient health.

This way, providers don’t have to shuffle through various reports and can access all the required information about patient health in real-time on reporting dashboards. With the use of analytics tools and quality improvement modules, providers can have deeper insights into patient data and know the population health trends. This encourages data-driven decisions in care practices, which further improves care delivery and reduces healthcare provider burnout by allowing them to be a step ahead.

Supporting Work-Life Balance

A recent survey conducted by Deloitte suggested that 77% of Americans working full-time constantly feel burnout. Interestingly, the majority of that population consists of healthcare providers. This also emphasized the importance of work-life balance to prevent employee burnout.

With the help of CCM software, providers can effectively manage their time and focus on patient health. This is achieved by automating most of the administrative tasks, allowing healthcare providers to focus more on patient care and not on administrative work.

The CCM software streamlines the healthcare practice workflow and sophisticates the process. Furthermore, bringing the workflow to the mainstream encourages a healthy work environment with technology support, instilling a work-life balance in your healthcare practice.

Addressing Mental Health and Wellness

Mental health conditions like clinical depression and anxiety are treated under the chronic care management program. This will require you to include mental health support programs in the CCM software. While doing so, you can use customized chronic care management software to include such mental health support programs for your healthcare staff as well.

This will encourage self-help practices within the healthcare community as well. So, creatively, here you are, solving multiple problems with a simple and sophisticated solution. Along with that, the stats from this will also help you recognize the employees who are at risk of burnout and proactively help them to improve their mental and overall health.

Additional Benefits

CCM software and burnout are interlinked with one another, meaning you implement one, and it solves the other problem to some extent. For example, the current workflow in the healthcare industry is slightly inclined towards traditional care practices, consuming more time for providers.

According to a study conducted by the National Library of Medicine, 35% of the physician’s time is spent on patient documentation. However, the CCM software that you choose can effectively help you streamline the workflow of your hospital.

The CCM software automates routine and other administrative tasks, making work easy for healthcare staff.

Conclusion

The lack of work-life balance, the increasing aging population with chronic conditions, and healthcare workers leaving their jobs due to burnout are some of the major reasons for burnout and pressure on healthcare professionals. While there are many ways you can address these, in the process, there is a high chance of disrupting healthcare delivery.

So, can CCM software prevent physician burnout?

Well, the answer is yes, and if you want to streamline your healthcare practice and take some pressure off of your healthcare staff, then click here to schedule a demo.

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Frequently Asked Question’s

1. How to reduce provider burnout with CCM software?

Here is how you can reduce provider burnout with CCM software:

Streamlining workflows and reducing administrative burden
Improving efficiency and productivity
Enhancing patient engagement and satisfaction

2. Can CCM software prevent physician burnout?

Yes, CCM software can prevent physician burnout by streamlining most repetitive processes and adding the factor of convenience to providing healthcare services.

3. Benefits of CCM software for nurses

CCM software for nurses benefits them by automating most of the repetitive tasks like appointment scheduling, patient calling, resource allocation, etc.

4. Does CCM software improve patient care?

Yes, CCM software has the potential to significantly improve patient care in several ways:

Enhanced care coordination
Improved patient engagement
Better monitoring and prevention
Personalized care plans
Reduced healthcare costs

5. Best CCM software for reducing burnout

eCareMD is one of the best CCM software for reducing healthcare burnout. Click here to book a software demo.

6. How to convince your practice to invest in CCM software

Investing in CCM software would not only take your traditional healthcare practice digital but also help you to streamline your practice and take a lot of the burden off of your healthcare staff. Along with that, it is a good investment to start your second source of revenue.

7. Data security considerations for CCM software?

Here are some data security considerations for CCM software: