Summary: The existence of clinician burnout is nothing new. What is new is that burnout is being exacerbated by the digital transformation. The first step in combating the crisis is to help clinicians disconnect. That is what medical answering services are for.
Practicing medicine has always included a certain level of physical, emotional, and psychological strain. When you are tasked with caring for the health of so many patients, it comes with the territory. But clinician strain has been taken to a whole new level in the digital era. We have reached the point where clinician burnout can no longer be adequately addressed with mindfulness apps and wellness seminars. Clinicians need more.
One of the root causes of modern clinician burnout is technology. We have gone from the days of the simple buzzer to multiple communication technologies, including smartphones, email, and social media. Clinicians can no longer disconnect and forget about things. How can we help them? For starters, encouraging clinicians to utilize medical answering services can go a long way toward preventing burnout.
Don’t think of a medical answering service as a quaint business product from days past. Companies like Apello have evolved with the times and are more than capable of handling a full compendium of office communications using digital technologies. Modern medical answering services remain on the cutting edge of compliance, technology, and services that can actually help clinicians.
The Problem With Always Being ‘On’
Physicians and advanced practice nurses are no different from the rest of us. The quality of their mental health is partially connected to the ability to detach from work when off the clock. Mental and psychological detachment in no way means a clinician is not committed to patient care. Rather, it is simply a tool that allows a clinician’s cognitive faculties to recover from a long day of critical decision-making.
Unfortunately, too many clinicians are trapped in a digital space they cannot escape. Even after checking out for the day, they remain tethered to their patients by way of technology that never shuts down. Making matters worse is the reality that so many after-hours contacts are not for genuine emergencies. Patients are looking for routine prescription refills or checking on upcoming appointments.
This creates a scenario in which the clinician must always be ‘on’. Being forced to always be in this state severely disrupts a clinician’s personal time. It disrupts family, ruins plans, and creates a cumulative cognitive load that eventually becomes burnout. The first step in preventing burnout is helping the clinician disconnect. That is where medical answering services come in.
Prevention Through Intelligent Call Filtering
Here at Apello, we offer a long list of service plans and options. At the heart of it all is a system of intelligent call filtering that protects clinicians from being interrupted for non-emergencies. Intelligent call filtering differs from generalized answering services in that highly trained professionals operate under strict, customized clinical protocols worked out between the service provider and clinician.
General answering services and automated tools can frustrate patients who just want to talk to a doctor or nurse. Moreover, calls being answered by operators with little medical training can lead to improper triage. None of this helps the clinician trying to maintain a practice composed of happy, healthy patients.
On the other hand, a medical answering service with properly trained agents becomes an extension of the clinician and his office. Calls are filtered intelligently by way of a dynamic, multi-tiered screening process that looks at every call based on pre-approved criteria. Filtering separates calls into a minimum of three categories:
- Clinical Need – Calls representing an immediate clinical need are identified through a customized decision tree. Patients presenting symptoms that meet the threshold of an acute crisis are forwarded to a clinician immediately. Less urgent needs might be referred to an after-hours care center.
- Routine Inquiry – Proper filtering identifies calls representing routine inquiries. These are calls dealing with billing questions, lab results, appointments and scheduling, documentation requests, etc.
- Prescription Management – Calls requesting prescription refills are the third category. Operators can be trained to inform patients of standard prescription policies, then take a message and leave it for office staff to deal with the next day.
Unfortunately, many after-hours calls handled by a medical answering service do not meet the threshold of genuine emergencies requiring physician intervention. When such emergencies do arise, calls are immediately forwarded to the on-call clinician. Continuity of care is never left to chance when a clinician works with a reputable medical answering service.
How It Helps the Clinician
Intelligent call filtering is a service designed to benefit both the clinician and the patient. Patients benefit by always being able to speak with a human capable of understanding their needs and pointing them to the right solutions. As for clinicians, they benefit in ways that can be hard to quantify.
For example, intelligent filtering handled by a medical answering service can help improve the clinician’s sleep hygiene. Rather than being awakened multiple times during the night for non-emergencies, the clinician enjoys a solid night of sleep. He is refreshed and ready to go the next morning.
Call filtering also helps preserve the clinician’s private life. His time with family is not interrupted as frequently as it would be without the medical answering service covering calls for him. Birthday parties are no longer paused. Anniversary celebrations go off without a hitch. Family vacations are actually peaceful and quiet.
Just like the rest of us, clinicians need the ability to leave work and forget about it. If they can do that, they can give their brains permission to detach, disconnect, and recover. That’s how it should be.
It’s About Respecting Personal Boundaries
To us, a medical answering service is all about respecting a clinician’s personal boundaries. You may be a clinician struggling to avoid burnout because you can never escape. Know this: we recognize your boundaries. We want to help you maintain them by applying intelligent filtering to all your incoming calls.
If you are interested in knowing more about how a medical answering service can help save your sanity and prevent burning out, contact us. Bringing in a medical answering service could ultimately be the best thing you ever did for yourself, your family, and your practice.
FAQs
How do unfiltered calls impact a clinician’s mental health?
Unfiltered calls expose a clinician to non-emergency calls during off-duty hours. If call volumes are excessive, a clinician’s mental health suffers because he or she can’t disconnect from work.
How does a medical answering service help a clinician’s mental health?
A medical answering service receives and filters all incoming calls, thereby eliminating the need for the clinician to always be ‘on’. This allows clinicians to disconnect and detach from work. Clinicians have the space to enjoy life outside the office.
Are automated systems sufficient for protecting clinicians?
Automated systems can reduce clinician interruptions, but they pass the burden of anxiety back to patients or onto office staff. Live medical answering services are a better option.
What is intelligent call filtering?
Intelligent call filtering is the practice of applying a multi-tiered screening process that categorizes calls based on urgency and need. Only calls involving genuine emergencies are forwarded to the clinician. All others are handled in more appropriate ways.
