Reducing Administrative Burdens for Physicians
Administrative burden is a frustration for many physicians, diverting their time away from patient care or extending their workday reducing their personal time. It is a leading cause of physician burnout, which is at an all-time high in Manitoba and in many jurisdictions.
In 2023, Doctors Manitoba and the Manitoba Government created a Joint Task Force to Reduce Administrative Burdens on Physicians. This page serves as a hub on reducing administrative burden, with information, consultations and updates.
Physicians are invited to send concerns or ideas about administrative burdens anytime to adminburden@doctorsmanitoba.ca.
Final Report (September 2024)
Recommendations to Keep Reducing the Burden
The Final Report from the Joint Task Force showcases the progress so far, and more importantly the recommendations on where to go next.
Recommendation 4 — Care Coordination and Continuity
Thousands of times per day, physicians have to coordinate care with others: consultations, tests, referrals, discharges, and more. This is a major source of burden that could be dramatically improved with transparent pathways, consistent approaches, and clearer formers.
Report 2: Progress on Reducing Administrative Burdens (February 2024)
A new report from the Joint Task Force highlights progress that has been made to reduce administrative burdens for physicians. You can read the full Progress Report here.
The report, released in February of 2024, includes the following highlights:
- Over 75,000 hours per year of unnecessary administrative burden has been eliminated so far.
- This surpasses the initial goal set by the Task Force of 63,300 hours, equivalent to 10% of the 633,000 hours per year spent on unnecessary administrative tasks.
- Over three dozen organizations and departments have been engaged to help reduce administrative burdens for doctors.
You can read the full February 2024 Progress Report including details on burden reduction projects, both completed and under development
The Task Force has made two interim recommendations including adopting a burden reduction lens to administrative tasks involving physicians, and consulting physicians when a change will affect their administrative tasks. The Task Force has created resources to support both recommendations, including an administrative burden measurement tool and playbook with suggestions for physician engagement.
Earlier this year, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business recognized Manitoba and Nova Scotia for“leading the way on reducing administrative burdens for physicians, having achieved significantly more progress than the rest of the country.”
Report 1: Measuring the Burden, Opportunities for Improvement
On May 31, the Joint Task Force submitted its first progress report to the Minister of Health and the President of Doctors Manitoba. You can view the report here. The report provides the first measurement of physicians’ administrative burden in Manitoba, identifies opportunities for improvement, and proposes an initial goal to reduce burdens on physicians. Based on survey data collected by Doctors Manitoba, the Task Force estimates that:
- Physicians spend 10.1 hours per week on administrative tasks on average, which adds up to 1.4 million hours per year.
- 44% of this time is unnecessary, equivalent to 633,000 hours per year or 1.9 million patient visits.
- Two Thirds of physicians indicated that the time they spend on administrative tasks has increased over the last five years.
Through physician consultation, the Task Force identified the top 20 most significant unnecessary administrative burdens facing doctors. The Task Force will work with the organizations identified as responsible for these burdens, along with the physicians impacted, to review, prioritize, and support improvement.
The Task Force has recommended an initial goal: reduce the time physicians spend on unnecessary administrative tasks by 10% in 2023. This would free up the equivalent of 63,000 hours of physician time per year, equivalent to 190,000 patient visits. With the support of the organizations responsible for unnecessary administrative burdens, the Task Force believes this could be achievable by December 2023.
The Task Force is challenging the organizations identified as “owning” the unnecessary administrative tasks outlined in this report to validate and assess the burden and where beneficial, make improvements to reduce or eliminate unnecessary burdens by December 2023. This work should be informed by physician experience and feedback, and it should be undertaken in partnership with the Task Force. The Task Force Co-Chairs have reached out to each organization identified to request their support in reducing administrative burdens on physicians.
Resources
The Joint Task Force has produced the following Resources to support burden reduction work.
About the Task Force
The Joint Task Force to Reduce Administrative Burdens on Physicians was established in partnership by the Manitoba Government and Doctors Manitoba. Its purpose is to reduce excessive and unnecessary administrative burden faced by physicians, recognizing this is a diversion from patient care and a leading cause of physician burnout.
The task force was created in February 2023, just days after the Canadian Federation of Independent Business issued a national report on the issue and challenged provinces to improve.
The objectives and deliverables assigned to the Task Force include:
- Measure the administrative burden and the portion that could be reduced or eliminated
- Adopt a measurable goal
- Develop and implement actions plans to reduce the burden and measure the progress
- Provide recommendations on how to avoid creating excessive new burdens
- Report on progress, including an interim report in May
The Task Force members were appointed in April 2023. The members include:
- Dr. Randy Guzman MD, FRCSC, FACS, RVT, RPVI, ICD.D
Hospital-based specialist, vascular surgeon, Professor, and Head of Vascular Surgery Section, and President-Elect with Doctors Manitoba - Dr. Alexis Botkin MD FRCPC
Community-based specialist, dermatologist, and a Board Director with Doctors Manitoba representing the Victoria Hospital Medical District - Dr. Ian Alexander MD CCFP
Rural family physician, Assistant Professor, and Regional Family Medicine Specialty Lead for Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority - Dr. Shawn Thomas MD, CCFP, FCFP
Urban family physician and WRHA Medical Specialty Lead for Primary Care - Dan Skwarchuk, B. Comm (Hons), CHE, CPA, CGA
Winnipeg Regional Health Authority Lead, Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer - Corinne Pohlmann
Executive Vice-President with Canadian Federation of Independent Business - Keir Johnson (Co-Chair) MPA
Director of Strategy & Communications with Doctors Manitoba - Paul Pierlot (Co-Chair) MA
Director of Policy and Planning with the Manitoba Government