Using EHR to predict physician burnout: 5 study takeaways

Electronic health records can be used to predict burnout of primary care physicians on a clinical level, according to a study published April 3 in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Here are five takeaways from the study:

1. Researchers from Stanford (Calif.) University, Boston-based Harvard Medical School and St. Louis-based Washington University School of Medicine collaborated on the study.
   
   
2. AI was used to compare certain EHR measures against well-being surveys completed by 278 physicians.
   
   
3. The surveys were conducted between April 1, 2019 and Oct. 16, 2020.
   
   
4. The best predictor of physician burnout was the number of automated messages they received, followed by whether team members had contributed to writing some or all of a physician's notes.
   
   
5. AI was found to be most effective at predicting burnout on the clinical level, while its ability to predict burnout for individual clinicians was "limited," according to an Oct. 3 article on Stanford's website.