Is provider enablement just the latest care team buzzword, or does the trending new term hint at something deeper? In our latest blog series, we explore what provider enablement really means, how it can support top-of-license work, how care teams can return to prioritizing point-of-care, and what the future holds for clinical staffing shortages.
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In modern healthcare, there’s a full gamut of obstacles between providers and patients. Every tool meant to help, every process designed to manage, and each piece of technology intended to streamline runs the risk of slowing down the process if not properly managed. Provider enablement reorients the care continuum to focus on point-of-care interactions first and foremost. Highlighting patient/provider engagement allows for new strategies to manage those tools, processes, and technologies for their greatest efficacy.
Provider enablement is a simple idea, but it is the application of this idea – deploying a comprehensive strategy that enables every care team member to operate at the top of their skill set – that can make a huge difference.
Since the pandemic, burnout has been the inciting symptom to motivate change for care teams but as time passes and the healthcare landscape shifts, the factors contributing to burnout are evolving. A recent study determined that under-staffing was linked to higher rates of burnout in physicians. University of California, San Francisco’s Lisa Rotenstein, MD, MBA, MSc, and her team surveyed 970 physicians. 48% of them met the criteria for burnout.
While the digital revolution streamlined clinical documentation, the advancement of technology has since overcomplicated many steps in the care continuum, leaving team members overworked and constantly multitasking. Positions first made redundant by EHRs are now a necessity for managing the digital workload.
A late 2023 study collected and compared the results of 37 different studies on burnout. A majority of the studies they analyzed found that EHR use in general contributed to physician burnout. Additionally, a number of studies measured time spent on virtual tasks and identified that increased time spent in the EHR correlated with increased rates of burnout (Alobayli et. al.)
A comprehensive provider enablement solution needs to tackle these pressing issues. Providers need more team members on the floor with them, and they need to spend less time in front of their computers. Restoring care team roles like medical assistants, technicians, and scribes, and leveraging those roles to work in tandem with new technologies, can combat the predicted massive burnout and healthcare worker shortage of the coming decade.
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In our next installment exploring provider enablement, we’ll dive into staffing shortages, what’s motivating them, and how teams can embrace new approaches to stay ahead of the curve.
References and Resources
Alobayli F, O’Connor S, Holloway A, Cresswell K. “Electronic Health Record Stress and Burnout Among Clinicians in Hospital Settings: A Systematic Review. Digit Health”. 2023 Dec 19;9:20552076231220241. doi: 10.1177/20552076231220241. PMID: 38130797; PMCID: PMC10734365.
Rostenstein, Lisa S., et al. “Incomplete Team Staffing, Burnout, and Work Intentions Among US Physicians.” JAMA Network, JAMA Internal Medicine, 14 May 2025, jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2833881.
Wu Y., Wu M., Wang C., Lin J., Liu J., Liu S. “Evaluating the Prevalence of Burnout Among Health Care Professionals Related to Electronic Health Record Use: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” JMIR Med Inform 2024;12:e54811, 12 June 2024, https://medinform.jmir.org/2024/1/e54811. DOI: 10.2196/54811
