Electronic consultations and clinician burnout: An antidote to our emotional pandemic?

Abstract

Health information technology is a major source of clinician burnout due to increased administrative burden and inefficient work processes. Electronic consultations (eConsults) represent a promising innovation to improve access to specialty care by reducing wait times for specialist visits and reducing unnecessary in-person specialist visits. While eConsults have clear benefits for patients and healthcare systems, their potential effects on provider burnout should be considered. Using a framework which outlines that the loss of autonomy, competence, and relatedness as the main contributing factors to clinician "amotivation" and burnout, we discuss the use of eConsults and their potential to mitigate or exacerbate burnout for primary care providers and specialists, as well as recommendations for implementation of eConsults to reduce burnout.