In the healthcare sector, administrative staff members have to deal with stress and burnout due to workload which can overwhelm and demotivate them. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the MGMA  reported there was a 30% turnover rate among front office staff members in clinics and hospitals. This burnout amongst operational staff members is a grave issue and needs to be dealt with immediately so healthcare organizations can maintain a good level of productivity and efficiency.

As a proactive manager, you need to develop strategies to fix the issue of burnout and stress. You can change the game by helping staff members to recharge, refocus, and distress. The situation can only improve when healthcare managers can identify employee stress associated with administrative tasks.

Strategies to prevent employee burnout

  1. Identify changes in behavior – As a good leader, you must consider any negative or positive changes in employee behavior. Communicate with them openly to help them out in any way to reduce anxiety and work-related stress.
  2. Address and consider work from home distractions – The new work set-up due to the pandemic may add up to employee stress due to distraction from children and other family members. When you see employees struggling to work from home it’s time to step in and talk to them about the importance of setting boundaries. You can encourage them to have lunch breaks and have a set time to work to lower the added pressure.
  3. Leverage the power of healthcare technology solutions – Deploy an Electronic Medical Records (EMR) software solution to help streamline administrative tasks. The automation through software features allows workers to spend less time on each task which also increases productivity levels and keeps employee’s stress at bay. You must select an EHR Software that provides the right tools and is cost-effective for your practice.
  4. Task restructuring – Sometimes it can be beneficial to redistribute workload and switch assignments every once in a while. The restructuring task aims to reduce workload and stress for maximum employee benefit.

Moving ahead

Good administrative healthcare teams always recognize any employee changes and make the right effort at the right time to bring about desirable changes. Administrators must prioritize communication and collaboration with their employees so everyone in the organization is on the same page which is to stay motivated and improve services for patients. Exhaustion, burnout, anxiety, and pressure from work can harm employee performance levels. By providing a healthy working environment satisfaction levels can spike up and prevent burnout.