Vol 2: Issue 1

Clinician and staff well-being

Our research suggests that if we really want to protect our clinical communities from burnout, we must focus on both near-term and long-term opportunities. In our cover story, athenahealth Chief Medical Officer Dr. Nele Jessel outlines some of these opportunities, sharing her views on how to combat burnout and create a more sustainable future for the medical profession. Also in this issue, we share findings from our analysis of athenahealth data on how clinicians spend their time documenting in the EHR, including opportunities to use that time more efficiently. We hear directly from clinicians on how better collaboration with payers could benefit both parties and on the steps that healthcare organizations are taking to look out for clinicians’ mental health. Further in the issue, we examine the impact of industry-wide staffing shortages and the pandemic on administrative staff, and we talk with health economist Hannah Neprash, Ph.D., about some of these trends. Finally, we spotlight the public health ambassador program that’s sending teams from Esperanza Health Centers out into the neighborhoods of Chicago to reach patients in need of care — and how those ambassadors feel their work makes a difference.