Table 5. Recommended strategies and guidelines.
| Strategy | Descriptions of the steps |
|---|---|
| Minimize nonessential clerical tasks15 | “Busywork” (especially that involving EHRs) should either be minimized or delegated to supporting staff to complete |
| Utilize and develop/perfect new technologies that automatically import conversations into EHRs in order to reduce time spent manually inputting data after every patient visit | |
| Increase the autonomy of neurologists in the workplace | Assert control over professional lives |
| Increase involvement with professional organizations to support interests | |
| Make EHR technology easier to understand15 | Implement training programs to teach physicians how to better understand and use EHRs |
| Work with EHR vendors to make technology more user-friendly and clinically helpful | |
| Adapt technology to practice, not vice versa | |
| Decrease the number of unnecessary clerical tasks | |
| Implementation of and education about better coping skills/ mechanisms | Increase the availability of counseling and support groups for neurologists |
| Encourage open sharing among peers and colleagues in the workplace | |
| AAN recommendations45 | Individual level |
| Promote self-care to cultivate well-being and resilience, and increase engagement | |
| Encourage participation in individual courses/consultations | |
| Create a website with tips, tools, and strategies for combating burnout | |
| Encourage exercise, yoga, and talking to peers/colleagues | |
| Organizational level | |
| Implement different ways to use EHRs | |
| Implementation of a daily team huddle to increase communication and smooth the daily flow/coordination56 | |
| The AAN Live Well, Lead Well Program is a 1- or 2-day leadership program for neurologists57 | |
| Develop lasting leadership skills to promote positivity in the workplace | |
| National level | |
| Create educational programs about EHRs | |
| The AAN Palatucci Advocacy Leadership Forum trains neurologists to become legislative advocates through coalitions, societies, and other methods | |
| Organize visits with lawmakers to address unspecified factors that contribute to burnout in neurology | |
| Advocate for physician-friendly national policies, meaningful quality measures, and fair reimbursements | |
| Create a registry tool to facilitate meeting regulation requirements | |
| Increase importance of neurology relative to other specialties | Encourage administrators and policymakers to view neurologists (and other physicians alike) as human beings with limitations |
| Raise awareness of the importance of neurology in order to increase respect for the field | |
| Increase effectiveness of support staff | Actively reorganize health-care structures and training so that support staff are more effective and helpful |
| Move toward team-based medicine/care to alleviate the workload on individual neurologists | |
| Utilize advanced nurse practitioners to reduce the clinical workload |
AAN: American Academy of Neurology, EHR: electronic health record.