Introduction​

In the healthcare sector, a silent but pervasive challenge impacts the well-being of those at the frontline of patient care. This challenge is doctor burnout, a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged stress in the medical profession. The repercussions of doctor burnout extend beyond the healthcare providers; they also affect the quality of care received by patients.

At Legit.Health, we recognize the critical importance of supporting healthcare professionals. Our dedication to enhancing the lives of doctors and patients is reflected in our advanced artificial intelligence technology. Designed to streamline clinical workflows, our AI tools aim to alleviate the daily pressures faced by physicians, promoting a more sustainable work environment and better patient outcomes.

Doctor burnout, a serious problem​

Doctor burnout represents a significant and complex issue within the medical community. The World Health Organization defines burnout as an occupational phenomenon characterized by chronic work-related distress. It includes emotional exhaustion and irritability, a gradual loss of empathy and an increase in negative feelings such as cynicism, and a sense that your own professional effectiveness is rapidly decreasing.

This pervasive issue transcends borders, cultures, and languages, suggesting that its roots are deeply embedded in the fundamental nature of medical practice. It's not only a matter of individual well-being but also of the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare systems globally.

While completely eradicating doctor burnout may not be immediately feasible, it is imperative for the medical community and society at large to address the cultural, social, and economic factors contributing to this crisis. As a part of this community, it is our responsibility to critically evaluate and actively work towards mitigating the causes of this widespread concern—a concern that directly impacts the backbone of our healthcare systems and, consequently, our overall societal health.

A bad situation, made worse by COVID-19​

The challenge of doctor burnout, already significant prior to COVID-19, has been dramatically intensified by the pandemic. This global health crisis has pushed the medical community to unprecedented limits, further amplifying issues that were already present.

Doctors have long faced intense work hours, emotional and physical fatigue, and a sense of powerlessness within a system that can often feel unwieldy and unsupportive. The pandemic has undone many of the strides made in recent years to manage doctor workloads and improve overall well-being. A startling statistic reveals the depth of this crisis: three in five doctors report feeling depleted at the end of a workday, and 44% describe their work as emotionally draining.

Subjecting healthcare professionals to such relentless stress not only endangers their health but also poses severe risks to patient care and safety. While tackling the systemic roots of this issue remains a long-term goal, immediate and effective strategies are essential to alleviate the burden on doctors and mitigate the consequences of burnout.

6 Ways Legit.Health reduces doctor burnout​

At Legit.Health, we provide a groundbreaking Clinical Data and Communication Tool tailored for modern dermatologists. This tool is designed not just to simplify clinical tasks but to empower patients in their care journey. Below are six key ways our platform reduces the stress and workload contributing to doctor burnout.

Legit.Health is the revolutionary Clinical Data and Communication tool for Next-generation dermatologists that triples the empowerment of patients.

The purpose of deep learning algorithms used in Legit.Health is to help doctors make an informed decision, putting all the processing power and stored data of a cutting-edge computation at the service of the physician's performance.

Legit.Health's algorithms automatically grade lesions just by looking at smartphone images and small patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). In other words: the tool will automatically fill in most of the dermatology scoring systems, such as PASI, SCORAD, UAS, as well as estimate the pre-malignancy of any lesion.

How does this revolutionary tool for next-generation doctors work?

1. Minimize the time spent on menial tasks​

One of the main causes of doctor burnout is not having enough quality time with the patients. After all, the doctor has dedicated years of training to be able to help people, and spending time performing tasks that seem unimportant is quite frustrating.

This is especially true in dermatology, where they often need to linger counting lessions or calculating affected area and severity scores instead of actually interacting with the patient. Sadly, to this day, the best the market could offer to doctors looking to make these tasks easier and faster were digital calculators that still require a high degree of attention.

Thanks to Legit.Health, that has changed, as the new algorithmic artificial intelligence tool can diagnose a pathology and determine its severity in less than 23 seconds, reducing the burnout in doctors who want to focus on the person in front of them.

Our deep learning algorithms offer enhanced decision support for dermatologists. By leveraging advanced computational power and a vast repository of data, Legit.Health assists doctors in making more informed, efficient diagnoses and treatment plans.

2. Reduce time spent generating a paper trail​

Many doctors feel that to keep up in their field and carry on with a successful career, they need to be published in top journals. This frustration forces them to carry out the complex clinical trials that push the borders of scientific progress beyond what could be imagined a decade ago.

However, the lack of time in the hands of these physicians supposes a problem yet another time, as the requirements to carry on this kind of study often imply a heavy paper trail that must be kept up to date with precise data. This supposes more time spent filling in forms and registering information manually, leading to more doctor burnout.

Legit.Health helps set up both traditional and decentralized clinical trials thanks to its many algorithmic functions such as our pixel-to-CSV converters, automatic patient-reported outcome measures, match inclusion algorithms and dermatology image quality algorithms.

All this technology is put in the hands of the doctor to make the data collecting process not only fast but also more accurate and objective, as the algorithm doesn't hold any of the bias a human might.

One of the standout features is the ability to automatically grade lesions using only smartphone images and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). This means Legit.Health's tool can autonomously complete most dermatology scoring systems including PASI, SCORAD, and UAS, and also assess the pre-malignancy of lesions.

3. Makes communication with the patient easier​

Another of the causes of doctor burnout is the perception of a loss of connection with the patient and their needs, as many physicians feel like they are forced to focus on data and statistics and not on the human side of the trade.

It is a well-known fact that the communication between doctor and patient is one of the cornerstones of modern medicine, and the efforts to make that communication more fluid and effective should not fall on the physician's shoulders alone.

That's why one of the biggest focuses of Legit.Health is streamlining the communication by making the process as smooth as possible, connecting patient and doctor through an app that allows for messages, pictures, and requests not only to be filled in remotely but also filtered by priority. All this makes the communication happening at the appropriate pace for the physician.

4. Makes the pressure of over-specialization less impactful​

The medical profession demands an extraordinarily high level of specialization, with many cases requiring in-depth knowledge not just in a general field, but in very specific conditions. This need for specialization can be particularly burdensome for primary care physicians who often encounter a broad spectrum of diseases, yet may lack the specialized knowledge for accurate diagnosis and treatment.

Legit.Health effectively bridges this gap by providing doctors with access to the consolidated expertise of leading specialists in various diseases. This is coupled with the robust processing capabilities of our deep learning algorithms, offering a swift and reliable source for second opinions.

This feature proves invaluable for primary care doctors, who can utilize Legit.Health to gain quick, objective insights akin to consulting with a specialist, without the time-consuming process of referring to extensive manuals. Dermatologists also benefit when they encounter conditions outside their specific area of expertise, enabling them to use our tool as a trustworthy resource for confirming diagnoses.

Ultimately, by equipping physicians with this level of support and knowledge, Legit.Health significantly alleviates the overwhelming pressure to be an expert in all areas, thus contributing to the reduction of doctor burnout.

5. Comply with applicable regulations, including GDPR​

One of the biggest causes of doctor burnout is having to deal with nonmedical matters such as regulations, as many feel they didn't devote their life to the practice of medicine to then expend their limited time and energy on such comparatively menial matters.

Of course, despite not being a very appealing job, taking care of regulations, normative and patient data are crucial for the proper workflow of a medical centre, and it's a task that someone should take care of.

That's why at Legit.Health we have put a strong focus on making it easier to comply with all those regulations, being the GDPR the best example of how we approach data protection and how we take this work off the shoulders of doctors, so they can focus on what's important.

6. Reducing the number of patient complaints​

Lastly, we have to consider the pressure patient complaints put on the back of the doctors. They are of course a valuable tool to avoid bad practices and gather feedback, but often the fear, lack of knowledge or a misunderstanding can be the cause of a complaint that could be avoided.

The strain this puts on physicians contributes to the burnout effect greatly, and the solution to it is clear: to reduce the number of complaints, not by making it harder for the patients to speak their voice, but by reducing the instances where those complaints must not rise.

A better informed and more satisfied patient is less likely to misunderstand or misrepresent a situation, thus improving the patient's experience, we reduce the stress on the doctor.

Legit.Health strives to improve the communication between patient and doctor, making the patient feel understood and in control. Better informed patients make better decisions, take their treatment more seriously, and trust their doctor more.

In conclusion​

When we set ourselves to the task of creating the perfect tool to have an impact on our users' quality of life, we did it with both patients and doctors in mind.

We have taken into account the experiences of doctors and the extensive literature produced about this topic in the last years to develop our software so it makes the life of the doctors who use it easier and less stressful.

The main objective is, and will always be, to improve the performance of the doctor and to increase the patient's quality of life.

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