AI note-writing software will provide massive short-term relief to stressed-out physicians, effectively disconnecting the quality of notes from personal data entry skills. Unfortunately, after a brief respite from the stress of documentation, things could worsen.
The first EMR software was implemented in the early 2000s. The increased stress of digital documentation caused physician burnout rates to jump by 20 percent. Every study conducted since that time has identified documentation burden as the number one cause of physician burnout.
EMR systems have damaged the physician-patient relationship and doctors’ quality of life. Studies have even shown that doctors spend twice as much time in the chart as they do face-to-face with patients! Many physicians are forced to complete charts at home after the kids are in bed, giving rise to the term “pajama time.”
The AI breakthrough
Fortunately, writing a high-quality physician visit note is something AI does extremely well. Large language model software, like ChatGPT, can listen to patient visits and do an excellent job of writing notes very similar to those a physician would type. These models have been trained by analyzing millions of chart notes produced by physicians in various specialties.
We have had coaching clients brought to tears when they see their chart notes appear almost magically in the time it takes to walk from the exam room to their office. There it is, on the computer screen, needing only a few touches to be finalized.
Recent research indicates that this software can decrease total time in the chart by up to 50 percent. Imagine that: the software writes your notes, with acceptable quality, in half the time you’re taking now. What would it feel like to leave the office 20 minutes after your last patient? What would it feel like to never have to do charts at home again?
It’s a true breakthrough, and I encourage you to be an early adopter. If your organization is launching an AI note-writing pilot project, join the study group and get started. If your company is not implementing AI documentation, grab one of the publicly available programs and use it as a copy-and-paste alternative to typing your notes.
I predict these programs will achieve 100 percent adoption rates very quickly. They disconnect the quality of your notes from your personal data entry skills.
Why will this burnout relief be only short-term?
With half your documentation time freed up, how long will it take your employer to increase your patient volume quotas?
When I ask this question to a live audience, the average answer is “ten minutes.”
In this new high-volume reality, we may look back on the documentation burden as a blessing. The reason you don’t see more patients now is that you know the encounter isn’t over until the paperwork is done. The prospect of more work in the chart stops you from seeing an additional four or five patients.
What happens when we remove that throttle on your patient flow? What happens when you’re asked to see four, five … ten more patients per shift? What will become the new kingpin stressor that replaces the documentation burden?
All clinical skills are exhaustible. We already recognize compassion fatigue and decision fatigue in doctors. Burnout results from the exhaustion of physical, emotional, and spiritual energy. If we remove the task overwhelm of charting, what will be the cognitive barrier we violate with higher patient volumes? How will burnout change in this new environment?
The implementation of AI note-writing software is inevitable, as are increases in patient visits and RVU quotas. Burnout will change as a result. My fear is that it will morph into a new and more devastating dysregulation in the minds, bodies, and souls of modern physicians.
Dike Drummond is a Mayo-trained family practice physician, burnout survivor, executive coach, consultant, and founder of TheHappyMD.com. He teaches simple methods to help individual physicians and organizations recognize and prevent physician burnout. These tools were discovered and tested through Dr. Drummond’s 3,000+ hours of physician coaching experience. Since 2010, he has also delivered physician wellness training to over 40,000 doctors on behalf of 175 corporate and association clients on four continents. His current work is focused on the 7 Habits of Physician Wellbeing. Dr. Drummond has also trained 250 Physician Wellness Champions, and his Quadruple Aim Blueprint Corporate Physician Wellness Strategy is designed to launch all five components in a single onsite day. He can also be reached on Facebook, X @dikedrummond, and on his podcast, Physicians on Purpose.
