Humana is taking proactive steps to address burnout and improve engagement for its thousands of employed or affiliated clinicians by focusing on well-being, reducing turnover, and tackling frustrations related to technology and administrative processes, according to the company’s Chief Medical Officer, Kate Goodrich, MD.
Dr. Goodrich discussed the company’s recent ambient AI pilot on the Becker’s Healthcare podcast, an episode that will air later this month.
“My direct focus is on clinician engagement, particularly physicians and nurses, and their well-being,” Dr. Goodrich said. “I’m also increasingly focused on improving our working relationship with clinicians that we contract with. We want to find ways to address friction points and administrative frustrations between providers and payers. There’s a lot of potential there, and a strong desire to improve that area.”
Five notes:
1. Humana has around 1,200 physicians across its insurance and care delivery divisions, as well as about 7,000 nurses. The company is focused on reducing clinician turnover and allowing them to practice at the top of their license.
2. One area the company is targeting regarding clinician burnout is frustration around daily technology use, including the use of EHRs.
“Clinicians sometimes feel like they’re not being seen or heard,” Dr. Goodrich said. “They believe they could contribute more, but they aren’t always invited to the right conversations. Additionally, they want opportunities for growth and development.”
3. Humana recently piloted ambient AI technology to reduce documentation burden, which records a physician-patient visit and generates a note.
4. Surveyed clinicians say the ambient tool is reducing documentation time and cognitive load, or the mental fatigue caused by managing too much complexity during patient visits.
5. Humana is also developing AI tools that could summarize a patient’s medical history and interactions, such as hospital visits or prescriptions. This would save time spent searching through multiple portals and improve accuracy by providing a concise summary before the clinician meets the patient.
