Physicians are dealing with burnout at record rates, brought on by a number of factors, including increased administrative burdens, inadequate support to mitigate obstacles and the "archaic" prior authorization process, according to a recent article by American Medical Association President Jack Resneck Jr., MD.
Physicians and staff spend an average of two whole workdays per week completing prior authorizations, taking them away from patients and patient care for about 14 hours a week, according to a March 14 report from the AMA that surveyed 1,001 practicing physicians.
Medical practices complete 45 prior authorizations per physician per week on average.
Eighty-eight percent of physicians reported prior authorization burden as being either high or extremely high, while 2 in 5 physicians employ staff members to work exclusively on prior authorizations, the report said.