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Time pressures¹ and lack of patient trust² are factors that can contribute to physician burnout. Patients who self-diagnose based on internet research combine these factors. Expecting self-diagnosing-patients to passively receive physician-delivered medical information will likely increase the frustration of both parties. Therefore, it can be more productive with these challenging patients to integrate their internet information into patient education.

Angry and violent patient encounters can contribute to physician burnout. The effective management of these encounters with challenging patients can help reduce the impact they have and help maintain a safe work environment. Although many of the triggers of patient anger are avoidable or at least can be moderated, managing violent patient encounters may require different strategies.

Non-compliant patients are among the stressors that can result in physician burnout.¹ The cause of noncompliance varies² from patient to patient, and often depends on the complexity of their situation and their ability to comply. Low patient activation, low health literacy, inability to pay for treatment, and behavioral health issues may all contribute to a patient’s failure to comply with treatment recommendations. Re-framing the issue–from dealing with challenging patients who willfully disregard medical advice to helping patients overcome barriers to adherence–may diminish the frustration associated with patient noncompliance that contributes to physician burnout.

Chronic pain physicians experience significantly worse physician burnout than other physicians,¹ and physician burnout may be a contributing factor to the opioid epidemic². Physicians suffering from physician burnout may not possess enough time or energy to fully explore non-opioid alternatives to chronic pain patients. It is a vicious cycle, but there are strategies physicians can use to break it.

The 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) gave patients a right to view and request corrections to their medical records. In the intervening years, the widespread adoption of electronic health records (EHR), patient portals, and smartphone applications have led to an increase in patients accessing their medical records electronically. The digital evolution of the medical record has prompted a number of healthcare professionals and patient safety advocates to promote quicker access to information stored in the EHR.