The amount of time physicians work after hours or on weekends is increasing, and one more task is adding to the burden — mandatory training modules, according to an article on the American Medical Association website.
Redesigning modules and changing the requirements is necessary to reduce another administrative burden, according to the AMA. In 32% of mandatory modules, physicians completed training during off-hours or on the weekend
"We found that off-hours completion of mandatory modules is common in our study population, suggesting that this exists as a substantial burden of this uncompensated effort on our physicians," Nicole Goldhaber, MD, said during the most recent American Conference on Physician Health. "Despite limited evidence, required training modules are used in an effort to improve patient safety and quality of patient care. These well-intentioned efforts have led to growing administrative burden for physicians and detracted from physician wellness. And additionally, they take time and cognitive load away from physicians in their necessary patient care and other clinical documentation."
In the study, Dr. Goldhaber looked at the time it took various specialties to complete six mandatory training modules. Most spent almost five hours and in most cases were uncompensated for their time. The amount of time spent on modules and when varied by department. For example, neurologists spent less time per module, while pathologists completed 11% of modules after work hours or on weekends.
To streamline training, Dr. Goldhaber and her colleagues created a multidisciplinary group that included physicians, quality improvement employees and owners of the modules. They adjusted module requirements in a number of ways, including making one module voluntary or only required on a case-by-case basis, narrowing focus on the essential information, and expanding the timeline for completion to 60 days.