Protocol of randomized-controlled trial to examine the effectiveness of three different interventions to reduce healthcare provider burnout

BackgroundBurnout is among the greatest challenges facing healthcare today. Healthcare providers have been found to experience burnout at significant rates, with COVID-19 exacerbating the challenge. Burnout in the healthcare setting has been associated with decreases in job satisfaction, productivity, professionalism, quality of care, and patient satisfaction, as well as increases in career choice regret, intent to leave, and patient safety incidents. In this context, there is a growing need to reduce provider burnout through targeted interventions, yet little is known about what types of interventions may be most effective. The present study aims to contribute to and extend prior literature by using rigorous randomized controlled trial (RCT) methodology with a parallel group design to examine the effectiveness of different interventions in decreasing mental distress, increasing self-efficacy and attenuating inefficiencies and dissatisfiers in the work environment to achieve sustainable improvement.'MethodsThe present study is an ongoing randomized controlled trial (RCT) that examines the effectiveness of three different types of interventions to reduce provider burnout: an intervention targeting emotional wellbeing and resilience, Electronic Health Record (EHR) skills training, and performance improvement training, relative to a no-treatment control group. This study aims to enroll a total of 400 healthcare providers in a large urban hospital system. Outcomes will be assessed at post-treatment and 6-month follow-up. Key outcomes include burnout, emotional health, intent to leave, EHR mastery, and confidence in performance improvement. Changes in outcome measurements from baseline to post-intervention across the intervention and control groups will be conducted using linear mixed-effects models (LMM).DiscussionThis study is novel in that it compares several interventions addressing both personal as well as system-level drivers of provider burnout that have been theorized to operate among healthcare providers. In addition, post-treatment and longer-term follow-up assessments will provide insight into the maintenance of effects. Another innovation is the inclusion of different types of patient-facing providers in the study population (doctors, nurses, and therapists).Trial registrationThis study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05780892) on March 10th, 2023.