January , 2025
In the last two decades, physician burnout has gone from an acute problem to an epidemic.
Characterized by symptoms of emotional overwhelm, lack of motivation, fatigue, depression, and a myriad of physical symptoms, among others, the rise of burnout among healthcare practitioners was first described in 1996. By 2003, the European Forum of Medical Associations and the World Health Organization were warning of the dangers of burnout within the physician population. It is a warning that seems to have gone largely unheeded in the years since, as burnout rates among doctors have steadily climbed and remained high.
Physician burnout, not surprisingly, peaked during the pandemic with 62.8% of physicians experiencing symptoms of burnout in 2021, 38% higher than in 2020. And while those numbers have abated somewhat, they are still statistically higher than the rest of the general population. “For 2023, 48.2% of physicians reported experiencing at least one symptom of burnout,” writes the American Medical Association news wire.
The results are concerning. According to a 2024 MGMA Stat poll, “27% of medical groups report having a physician leave or retire early in 2024 due to burnout.” Even more alarming, as a 2022 study explains, physicians face a higher-than-average suicide and suicide attempt rate.
Physician burnout also negatively impacts patient care, “Physician burnout is costly for all of us,” writes The Century Foundation. “It impacts patient care and patient safety, as research shows that physicians suffering from burnout are more than twice as likely to be involved with patient safety incidents than physicians who are not suffering from burnout.”
But what is leading to these high rates of physician burnout? While a variety of factors can be associated with this epidemic, one very addressable factor stands out time and time again: administrative burden.
According to a study done by The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), “a significant percentage of the time family physicians spend on administrative and EHR tasks is devoted to chart review (32.1%), billing and coding (3.9%), and other clerical tasks (e.g., order entry) (16.6%), in addition to visit documentation (23.7%).” The burden of managing the EHR inbox by doctors accounts for an additional 23.7% of time spent in the EHR, further exacerbating the problem. In another poll done by Stanford Medicine, 19 of the 31 minutes for patient encounters are spent in the EHR.
So the question then becomes, how do we solve this problem?
It is a question that took on new life through the AI inflection point in healthcare, especially with regard to the fact that physician burnout is so closely linked to administrative burden. As such, the leaders at Thinkhat Venture Studio began to ask themselves what a sophisticated AI platform could do to solve the problem. Such was the inception of Noki, Thinkhat’s voice-first AI medical companion that is helping doctors alleviate administrative burdens and improve patient-centric care. But what is Noki?
Noki is many things
, a scribe, an administrative assistant, a medical student in your pocket, you name it—all bundled into one customizable package that can offer physicians and their staff assistance with a variety of clinical and administrative needs.
Unique from other AI medical scribe services, Noki is tackling the entire care continuum from pre-encounter to post-encounter with customized AI agents for each task. Among other tasks, Noki: acts as an assistant to doctors gathering high-yield patient information before the visit; transcribes the encounter into a customizable SOAP note; provides real-time clinical decision support; and helps with care coordination, scheduling, and coding and billing after the visit.
Physician burnout is a pressing problem, but it is not insurmountable. With the development of new AI-powered technology like Noki, we might just be able to make physician burnout a thing of the past.
The Thinkhat team has had a busy last few months. Our early portfolio offerings are starting to hit the market, and Thinkhat is also engaging top healthcare systems and pharmaceutical companies to share our vision and mission for the healthcare and life science industries.
At the recent HLTH Conference in Las Vegas, Thinkhat showcased innovative solutions to an engaged audience of industry leaders, healthcare providers, and technology pioneers. The event was a tremendous success, with Thinkhat’s vision for an AI-driven HLS industry gaining significant traction and generating numerous partnership opportunities for future collaborations.
Thinkhat also made an appearance at the Asociación de Hospitales de Puerto Rico Annual Convention where we connected with the island’s leading medical professionals as part of their ongoing commitment to improving the health outcomes of their community. With offices in Puerto Rico, Thinkhat is intimately invested in improving health outcomes for the island through AI-powered platform companies.
We are honored to have Dr. Dike Drummond, MD, on the team as Noki's Physician Wellness Champion. Dr. Drummond is a leading expert on physician burnout prevention and physician leadership development. In his new book, "Stop Physician Burnout - what to do when working harder ... isn't working" Dr. Drummond offers the industry’s first step-by-step guide for any physician in any specialty to create a more ideal practice and a more balanced life.
‘The physician burnout epidemic with our healthcare providers is a completely predictable result of their medical training and the generally accepted definition of success,” states Dr. Drummond. “AND it is both a Treatable AND PREVENTABLE Condition.’