Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Jul 31;4(1):180-191.
doi: 10.1089/tmr.2023.0020. eCollection 2023.

The Role of Virtual Triage in Improving Clinician Experience and Satisfaction: A Narrative Review

George A Gellert  1 , Joanna Rasławska-Socha  2 , Natalia Marcjasz  2 , Tim Price  3 , Alicja Heyduk  4 , Agata Mlodawska  2 , Kacper Kuszczyński  2 , Aleksandra Jędruch  2 , Piotr Orzechowski  2
Affiliations
Review

The Role of Virtual Triage in Improving Clinician Experience and Satisfaction: A Narrative Review

George A Gellert et al. Telemed Rep. .

Abstract

Objective: This review examines the literature on improving clinician satisfaction with a focus on what has been most effective in improving experience from the perspective of clinicians, and the potential role that virtual triage (VT) technology can play in delivering positive clinician experiences that improve clinical care, and bring value to health care delivery organizations (HDOs).

Methods: Review and synthesis of evidence on clinician satisfaction indicating a potential for VT to favorably impact clinician experience, sense of effectiveness, efficiency, and reduction of administrative task burden. Analysis considers how to conceptualize and the value of improving clinician experience, leading clinician dissatisfiers, and the potential role of VT in improving clinician experience/satisfaction.

Results: Contributors to poor clinician experience/satisfaction where VT could have a beneficial impact include better managing resource limitations, administrative workload, lack of care coordination, information overload, and payer interactions. VT can improve clinician experience through the technology's ability to leverage real-time actionable data clinicians can use, streamlining patient-clinician communications, personalizing care delivery, optimizing care coordination, and better aligning digital/virtual services with clinical practice. From an organizational perspective, improvements in clinician experience and satisfaction derive from establishing an effective digital back door, increasing the clinical impact of and satisfaction derived from telemedicine and virtual care, and enhancing clinician centricity.

Conclusions: By embracing digital transformation and implementing solutions such as VT that focus on improving patient and clinician experience, HDOs can address barriers to delivery of high-quality, efficient, and cost-effective care. VT is a digital health tool that can create a more streamlined and satisfying experience for clinicians and the patients they care for. VT is a technology solution that can help clinicians make faster more informed decisions, reduces avoidable care, improves communication with patients and within care teams, and lowers their administrative burden so they have more quality time to care for patients.

Keywords: artificial intelligence; clinician experience; clinician satisfaction; symptom checker; virtual triage.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

All authors work for Infermedica. G.A.G. is a medical advisor to Infermedica.

References

    1. Thomas Craig KJ, Willis VC, Gruen D, et al. . The burden of the digital environment: A systematic review on organization-directed workplace interventions to mitigate physician burnout. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2021;28(5):985–997; doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocaa301 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Densen P. Challenges and opportunities facing medical education. Trans Am Clin Climatol Assoc 2011;122:48–58. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Delshad S, Dontaraju VS, Chengat V. Artificial intelligence-based application provides accurate medical triage advice when compared to consensus decisions of healthcare providers. Cureus 2021;13(8):e16956; doi: 10.7759/cureus.16956 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pampin M. Technology Can Finally Ease the Burden of Primary Care Physicians. Welkin Health 2022. Available from: https://welkinhealth.com/technology-can-ease-burden-of-primary-care-phys... [Last accessed: March 10, 2023].
    1. Bernard C. Using AI to Prevent Complications in Hospitals. phData 2022. Available from: https://www.phdata.io/blog/using-ai-to-prevent-complications-in-hospitals/ [Last accessed: March 10, 2023].

LinkOut - more resources