Final Report Shares Recommendations for Reducing Administrative Burden

Reducing administrative burdens for physicians and avoiding new ones requires a relentless focus across the health care system. 

This is the first recommendation in the final report of the Joint Task Force to Reduce Administrative Burdens for Physicians. Sure, some might say this should be common sense and not require a recommendation, but there’s a reason it needed to be stated: Two thirds of physicians indicate the time they spend on paperwork and other administrative tasks has increased over the last five years. 

The Task Force was established in 2023 as a partnership between the Manitoba Government and Doctors Manitoba.

“Doctors go into medicine to care for patients but our time is increasingly spent on excessive and unnecessary administrative work,” said Dr. Randy Guzman, President of Doctors Manitoba and a physician member of the Task Force.

In addition to taking time away from patients, it has also been identified as a leading contributor to physician burnout. Reducing administrative burden is also key to strategies for the recruitment and retention of doctors in the province.

Initial Report May 2023

The Task Force’s initial report provided the first measurement of physicians’ administrative burden in Manitoba. 

The Task Force found that Physicians spend on average 10.1 hours per week on administrative tasks, which adds up to 1.4 million hours per year1.

Of this time, 44% is unnecessary, equivalent to 633,000 hours per year or 1.9 million patient visits. 

The Task Force set an initial target to eliminate 10% of the unnecessary administrative burden, equal to 63,000 hours per year of wasted physician time.

Interim Report February 2024

In February, the Task Force made two interim recommendations in a progress report, including adopting a burden reduction lens to administrative tasks involving physicians, and consulting physicians when a change will affect their administrative tasks. Resources were developed to support both recommendations, including a Burden Measurement Guide and Burden Reduction Playbook with suggestions for physician engagement. 

The Task Force also unveiled the progress of 10 burden reduction projects, finding the work is saving physicians an estimated 75,000 hours per year. This surpasses the initial burden reduction goal. These results were achieved following feedback from more than 1,000 physicians and Task Force meetings with 38 organizations and departments responsible for the top administrative burdens.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business recognized Manitoba, along with Nova Scotia, for leading the way on reducing administrative burdens for physicians. 

Final Report & Recommendations
The final report from the Task Force offers six recommendations to support continued progress towards making a meaningful reduction in administrative tasks for physicians, and advice on how to avoid creating new ones. They include:

1. Reducing burdens and avoiding new ones, including a relentless and continuous focus on reducing administrative work with annual goal setting and regular progress reports. 
   
2. Reducing form burden by moving towards simple, consistent forms that are integrated into electronic records whenever possible.
   Implementing integrated electronic records systems in close consultation with physicians to ensure these systems reduce administrative burdens, not add to them.
   
3. Streamlining care coordination across providers by making it easier for physicians to navigate the system, communicate efficiently between referring and responding physicians or services.
   
4. Eliminating paramedical benefits authorization by physicians in private insurance plans for benefits such as massage therapy, counselling, and physiotherapy among others. 
   
5. Eliminating sick notes and simplifying other third-party medical requests such as accommodation notes or return-to-work forms.

You can read both summaries and the full recommendations in the report at
doc​tors​man​i​to​ba​.ca/​b​u​r​d​e​n​r​e​d​u​ction.

What’s next?

While the Joint Task Force has wrapped, both the Manitoba Government and Doctors Manitoba have committed to continuing to reduce administrative burden and implement the Task Force’s recommendations. A more permanent joint initiative is also in the works. 

Reflecting on the progress made so far, Dr. Guzman adds ​“while we’ve moved the needle in the right direction, it’s likely not enough for most physicians to feel a difference in their everyday practice. This isn’t a report to sit on a shelf. Doctors Manitoba will continue to champion the reduction of administrative burden, and for the establishment of clear annual targets and accountability to achieve them.”

Physicians are invited to send concerns or ideas about administrative burdens anytime to adminburden@​doctorsmanitoba.​ca.

These remain in an online hub on reducing administrative burden at doc​tors​man​i​to​ba​.ca/​b​u​r​d​e​n​r​e​d​u​ction.