Recruiting

Observational Study

Sponsor:

University of Southern California

Code:

NCT05780892

Conditions

Burnout

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 0+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

Emotional Wellbeing

EHR Skills Optimization

Performance Improvement

control

Study Details

Brief summary:

Burnout and job dissatisfaction among clinicians are one of the greatest challenges facing healthcare today. Clinicians report feeling less engaged in their work and are leaving their fields in large numbers which reflects increasing stress from the pandemic coupled with increased administrative and regulatory demands and a decreased sense of autonomy. To attenuate these factors the current study will enact a series of interventions that would decrease mental distress, increase self-efficacy, and attenuate inefficiencies in their work environment to achieve sustainable improvement. The investigators will offer psychological training using techniques that have been shown to impact individual's mental health that target feelings of demoralization, depression and anxiety that result from chronic stress. Additionally, the investigators will offer individualized training on optimization of the Electronic Health Record (EHR) to help clinicians from different fields and settings reduce their time and effort needed for documentation. The investigators will also engage clinicians in systemic redesign to empower clinician-directed changes to the health system environment. The investigators anticipate that each intervention will positively affect emotional wellbeing, skills mastery of the Electronic Health Record (EHR), and environmental dissatisfaction to reduce overall burnout.

Conditions

Burnout

Study ID

NCT05780892

Start date

Apr 12, 2023

Status verified date

May, 2024

Completion date

Jun 30, 2025

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jan 30, 2025

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 0+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

Credentialed providers (e.g., MD/PA/NP across all specialties or clinical Ph.D./MS) or direct care providers/clinicians (e.g., RN, LVN, OT, PT, SLP, RT) within the Keck Medical System.

Exclusion Criteria:

a. Non-faculty or non-clinical staff (e.g., residents, administrators, etc.) at Keck Medicine

Study Design

Enrollment

400 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Emotional Wellbeing

This arm consists of 6 30-minute group sessions taking place every 2 weeks for a total of 12 weeks. The sessions will be led by licensed therapists based on cognitive behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy. Session topics are sequential in nature such that each session builds on the previous session. Between sessions, participants will complete worksheets based on the material covered in the previous session. If a participant misses a session, they will be provided with a pre-recording with the content they missed.

experimental: EHR Skills Optimization

This arm consists of 6 individual educational sessions taking place every 2 weeks for a total of 12 weeks which will be scheduled to accommodate clinicians schedule and preferences. These sessions will be led by a member of the clinical informatics team and target optimization of the EHR. The sessions will be conducted on site, virtually, or a combination of both onsite and virtual. Between sessions participants are to note any challenges, questions, or recommendations related to the EHR. If participant misses 2 sessions, they will be asked to reschedule, but if they miss 3 sessions they may be asked to withdraw from the intervention.

experimental: Performance Improvement

This arm consists of 6 virtual group sessions taking place over every 2 weeks for a total of 12 weeks. The sessions target improving perceptions of the work environment through foundational performance improvement knowledge and skills, and they will be led by a member of the systems-reengineering team. Between sessions, participants will be asked to follow through on tasks outlined in the learning sessions and share in the next session. If a session is missed, they will be provided with a prerecording of the didactic material presented in the learning sessions.

active comparator: Control

Participants randomly assigned to the control condition will continue as usual care and will not complete any intervention during the duration of the study.

Interventions

Emotional Wellbeing

Participants in this intervention will learn cognitive behavioral therapy tools to identify unhelpful beliefs and thought patterns, increase motivation through SMART goal making, and increase relaxation and stress management techniques through deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation and pleasant activity scheduling. Additionally, participants will learn acceptance and commitment therapy tools to increase cognitive flexibility and resilience through acceptance and diffusion work, being present through contact with present moment and self as context and doing what matters through committed actions and value identification.

EHR Skills Optimization

Participants in this intervention will learn how to better utilize the EHR by gaining knowledge and skills in the EHR. Session topics include, but are not limited to, understanding current usage patterns and behaviors in the EHR, optimization of the table of contents for easier chart navigation, integration of specialty-focused workflows with current EHR documentation and chart review tools, and recommendations to be more efficient and reduce amount of time spent in the EHR.

Performance Improvement

This intervention focuses on improving participants perception of Keck Medicine as a positive workplace environment by supporting participants in gaining basic performance improvement knowledge and skills through didactic training, group discussions based on sociocultural learning theory, and hands on practice leading a performance improvement project. Sessions will review performance improvement concepts such as Lean wastes, systems thinking, change management and sustainability. Participants in this intervention will then identify a project area of focus that they want to improve and develop a project charter. Once a project area has been identified, participants will be put into breakout rooms to discuss successes and challenges as well as receive feedback on their project from peers.

control

Participants randomly assigned to the control condition will continue as usual care and will not complete any intervention during the duration of the study.

Primary outcome measure

  • Change in emotional well-being [ Time Frame: Participants will complete this survey at baseline, immediately following the intervention, and 6 months after completion of the intervention. ]
  • Change in Resilience [ Time Frame: Participants will complete this survey at baseline, immediately following the intervention, and 6 months after completion of the intervention ]
  • Change in EHR Skills and Optimization [ Time Frame: Participants will complete this survey at baseline, immediately following the intervention, and 6 months after completion of the intervention. ]
  • Change in Electronic Health Record (EHR) Proficiency [ Time Frame: Participants will complete this survey at baseline, immediately following the intervention, and 6 months after completion of the intervention. ]
  • Change in perceptions of Quality Improvement [ Time Frame: Participants will complete this survey at baseline, immediately following the intervention, and 6 months after completion of the intervention ]
  • Change in score of Proficiency improvement [ Time Frame: Participants will complete this survey at baseline, immediately following the intervention, and 6 months after completion of the intervention ]
  • Change in Environmental Satisfaction [ Time Frame: Participants will complete this survey at baseline, immediately following the intervention, and 6 months after completion of the intervention. ]
  • Change in Burnout [ Time Frame: Participants will complete this survey at baseline, immediately following the intervention, and 6 months after completion of the intervention. ]
  • Change in Overall Well-being [ Time Frame: Participants will complete this survey at baseline, immediately following the intervention, and 6 months after completion of the intervention. ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Steven J. Siegel, MD, PhD

(323) 422-4000steven.siegel@med.usc.edu

John Brodhead, MD

(626) 375-0942John.Brodhead@med.usc.edu

Locations

Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California

Recruiting

Los Angeles, California, United States, 90033

Contacts

Steven Siegel, M.D., Ph.D.

323-442-4000steven.siegel@med.usc.edu

John Brodhead, M.D.

(323) 442-5100john.brodhead@med.usc.edu

More Information

Sponsor

University of Southern California

Last update posted

May 16, 2024

Last verified

May, 2024

Keywords

  • healthcare worker
  • clinician
  • wellness
  • process improvement
  • electronic health record

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-09. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of Southern California on 2024-05-16.