Attracting and Retaining Top Clinical Staff

Over the past two years, many factors have contributed to the burnout and retention rate for healthcare providers. The pandemic has been a major challenge, of course. A recent report issued by KLAS Research found that there are a number of other considerations as well, including the work environment, a lack of shared values, and the rate of satisfaction with the organization’s electronic health record (EHR) solution.

The KLAS survey began in early 2020 and ran for two years, with the results being published in early 2022. Over 59,000 clinicians responded, including nurses, allied health professionals, and physicians. The survey was designed to determine how likely the individual was to leave their organization within the next two years.

On the topic of EHR usage, the survey found that overall satisfaction with the EHR was correlated with the likelihood that the clinician was planning to leave. Satisfaction included adequate training, relevance to the specific job duties, and the sense that the EHR was a help in their job. Specifically, when the clinician felt that the EHR was a help rather than a hindrance, they were more likely to indicate they would stay in their current organization.

KLAS researchers suggest that healthcare leaders should ensure their EHR has solid reliability, or uptime, and a quick response time. These are issues that can overshadow other positive aspects of EHR usage. They also suggest that a strategy that can help improve EHR satisfaction is reducing after-hours charting time. Some clinicians choose to chart after hours; however, those individuals who use their EHR efficiently and can complete their charting during business hours tend to be more satisfied and less prone to burnout.

Additional suggestions from the researchers, based on responses received regarding burnout, retention, and EHR satisfaction include:

• Improve charting efficiency by implementing personalization appropriate for the clinician’s workflow.
• Reduce charting burden; 30% of the nurses who reported spending five or more hours on duplicative or unproductive charting each week said they were likely to leave their organization in the next two years.
• Implement work-specific training so clinicians learn to use the EHR in the context of their specific role. Those clinicians who strongly disagreed that their training was specific to their workflow were more than twice as likely to report planning to leave their organization, compared to those who strongly agreed their training matched their workflows.

Survey participants’ satisfaction with the EHR vendor was also a factor in their decision to stay with their organization. Elation Health works with your team to provide a clinical-first experience that empowers physicians and their clinicians to deliver phenomenal care.  

Contributors to burnout – and to the decision to leave the organization within the next two years – also included:

• A lack of shared values with organization leadership
• Lack of effective teamwork
• Chaotic work environment
• Lack of autonomy in the job.

The KLAS report identified that as the level of burnout increases, so does the likelihood that the individual will leave. Addressing the challenges of burnout, including ensuring that the EHR system is responsive, easy to use, and tailored to the specific workflow needs, can help reduce turnover.