Building the evidence base on health information technology–related clinician burnout: a response to impact of health information technology on burnout remains unknown—for now

In my editorial¹ that accompanied Gardner et al’s article² on the impact of health information technology (HIT) on physician stress and burnout, I noted that “EHR innovations cannot help to mitigate clinician burnout without careful consideration of the socioecological context in which these innovations occur, including organizational culture, healthcare marketplace, technology ecosystem, and national policy.” I focused my editorial on the topic of clinician burnout to encourage continued discourse on this incredibly important topic.

In a letter to the editor, Zsenits et al³ contend that the impact of HIT on physician burnout is unknown for now and provide a methodological critique of Gardner et al’s article. The authors’ response follows.⁴ With the publication of this correspondence in Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, I aim to highlight of the importance of applying a variety of research methods to the important topic of HIT-related clinician burnout so that we can fully understand the complexity of the phenomenon to drive and create solutions that allow the HIT and clinician to each do what they do best. I look forward to future articles in Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association that continue to build the evidence base on this topic.