If your EMR feels like it’s adding to your workload instead of reducing it, this episode will feel very familiar.

In this conversation, Sarah Smith sits down with healthcare IT and analytics consultant Lori Runion to explore why clinician burnout is often driven by systems, not individuals, and what is actually working to fix it.

From large-scale virtual scribe programs to EMR workflow optimization and predictive staffing, this episode looks at the operational side of burnout and how healthcare organizations can reduce friction, improve efficiency, and give clinicians their time back.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Why EMRs often increase after-hours work and frustration
• How a 200-physician virtual scribe program was implemented
• The difference between human scribes and emerging AI documentation tools
• Practical ways to reduce clicks and improve EMR workflows
• How predictive analytics can support staffing and patient demand
• Why burnout is a systems problem, not a personal failure

Episode breakdown:

01:57 Why EMRs Are Driving Clinician Burnout
04:08 When Work Follows You Home
06:24 Inside a Large-Scale Virtual Scribe Program
10:35 Human Scribes vs Ambient AI
13:27 Using Data to Predict Patient Demand
18:53 Predictive Staffing in Practice
22:50 Fixing EMR Workflow Friction
28:31 Burnout as a Systems Problem
29:47 Managing the Patient Inbox
33:15 Reducing Clicks and Documentation Load

Key Takeaways:

1. Burnout is a systems failure, not a clinician failure. The EMR turned documentation into an after-hours expectation. Fix the workflow, not the person.

2. The data exists and now it's time to use it. Two decades of electronic records are sitting largely untapped. AI finally gives healthcare the tools to act on it predictively, not reactively.

3. You can optimize your EMR without waiting for IT. Pick lists, smart phrases, and a few hours of upfront setup can return significant time. Start small, collaborate with colleagues, and let it compound.

Meet Lori Runion:

Lori Runion is a healthcare technology and transformation leader with more than 20 years of experience improving how care is delivered and documented. At Community Health Network, she led the clinical informatics team through a comprehensive, two-year Epic EHR implementation and spearheaded a virtual scribe program that scaled to over 200 remote scribes, directly reducing provider burnout and helping clinicians reclaim joy in their work. Driven by a passion for supporting healthcare workers, Lori has seen firsthand how the right tools and systems can transform both patient outcomes and clinician well-being. Today, she serves as a Portfolio Leader at Resultant, partnering with healthcare organizations as the day-to-day leader on complex initiatives and helping turn technology investments into meaningful, real-world results.

Outside of work, Lori enjoys planning her next international adventure and cheering on musical theatre performances and football games with her husband and three step-children.

Connect with Lori Runion:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lori-runion/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lstone8

--------------

Would you like to view a transcript of this episode? Click Here.

**** Charting Champions is a premiere, lifetime access Physician only program that is helping Physicians get home with today's work done. All the proven tools, support and community you need to create time for your life outside of medicine.

Learn more at https://www.chartingcoach.ca

**** Enjoying this podcast? Please share it with someone who would benefit. Also, don’t forget to hit “follow” so you get all the new episodes as soon as they are released.
**** Come hang out with me on Facebook or Instagram. Follow me @chartingcoach to get more practical tools to help you create sustainable clinical medicine in your life.

**** Questions? Comments? Want to share how this podcast has helped you? Shoot me an email at admin@reachcareercoaching.ca. I would love to hear from you.

Welcome to another episode of the Sustainable Clinical Medicine Podcast!

Dr. Sadie Elisseou, a primary care physician in the US VA system in Boston, Harvard and Boston University educator, and trauma-informed care expert, discusses her path into medicine and how working with veterans led her to trauma-informed practice after noticing patients’ discomfort during routine exams. She explains trauma-informed care as creating physical and psychological safety through mindful nonverbal communication, transparent agendas, permission-seeking, and reducing power dynamics, with examples such as thyroid exams and avoiding phrases like “for me.” She highlights VA onboarding on military experience, notes higher ACE rates among volunteer-era veterans, and describes how staff behaviors and clinic environments shape patient stress. The conversation also covers clinician wellbeing and burnout prevention via self-care, team debriefing, boundaries, therapy access, and time-management strategies like scheduled breaks, batching tasks, finishing notes between visits, and structuring varied work roles.

Here are 3 key takeaways from this episode:

1. Trauma-Informed Care Creates Safety Through Small, Intentional Actions: Physical and psychological safety in healthcare settings comes from deliberate practices: positioning yourself at the patient's side (not behind them), asking permission before examinations, explaining what you're doing and why, ensuring clear exits, and avoiding phrases like "for me" that emphasize power dynamics. These don't take extra time but transform the patient experience.
2. Shifting from "What's Wrong With You?" to "What Happened to You?" This mindset shift moves from blaming difficult patient behaviors to approaching them with curiosity and compassion. When patients are agitated or angry, it's often rooted in pain or fear. Co-regulation techniques—modeling calm through your own presence and validating their experience—can help both you and the patient settle into a more productive interaction.
3. Preventing Burnout Requires Structural Self-Care and Intentional Boundaries: Sustainable practice isn't about luxury spa days—it's about taking mindful breaths between patients, batching tasks by day (clinic on Mondays, administrative work on Thursdays), finishing notes immediately after appointments, scheduling regular breaks throughout the month, and setting non-negotiable hard stops. Varied work schedules that incorporate teaching, research, or consulting can also prevent monotony and reignite passion for the work.

Meet Dr. Sadie Elisseou:

Sadie Elisseou, MD is a practicing physician, faculty at Harvard Medical School, and leading subject matter expert in trauma-informed care who teaches clinical healthcare professionals how to provide top-quality care to trauma survivors and consults for organizations that wish to cultivate wellness and help team members engage through stressful times.

Connect with Dr. Sadie Elisseou:

🌐 Website https://www.sadie-elisseou.com/

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/sadie-elisseou/

--------------

Would you like to view a transcript of this episode? Click Here

**** Charting Champions is a premiere, lifetime access Physician only program that is helping Physicians get home with today's work done. All the proven tools, support and community you need to create time for your life outside of medicine.

Learn more at https://www.chartingcoach.ca

**** Enjoying this podcast? Please share it with someone who would benefit. Also, don’t forget to hit “follow” so you get all the new episodes as soon as they are released.
**** Come hang out with me on Facebook or Instagram. Follow me @chartingcoach to get more practical tools to help you create sustainable clinical medicine in your life.

**** Questions? Comments? Want to share how this podcast has helped you? Shoot me an email at admin@reachcareercoaching.ca. I would love to hear from you.

Welcome to another episode of the Sustainable Clinical Medicine Podcast!

The host and physician coach Dr. Karen Leitner discuss why the transition to new attending is often harder than training, marked by impostor feelings, shame about not knowing, and decision paralysis in clinical uncertainty. They compare systems in the US, Canada, and Australia, including practice ownership models, overhead, billing learning curves, and how lack of business training and negotiation skills can affect long-term earnings; they share an example of lost income due to paperwork capacity and not realizing support could be hired. They emphasize that regret is unhelpful, mistakes and bad outcomes can happen despite good intentions, and guilt should be replaced with compassion and connection by talking with trusted colleagues. They address burnout dynamics—skipping food, water, and bathroom breaks—advocating radical responsibility, analyzing the “math” of workload, small workflow fixes, and boundaries, including not relying on external praise. Leitner mentions her eight-week coaching program for women physicians.

Here are 3 key takeaways from this episode:

1. Being a new attending is a normal developmental milestone, not a sign of failure: Feeling overwhelmed, looking everything up, and comparing yourself to colleagues 20 years ahead is universal. The struggle isn't because you're unprepared—it's because no one prepares physicians for this transition. It can take 5-6 years to truly feel confident.
2. Self-compassion beats guilt when outcomes don't go as planned: When bad things happen to patients, guilt is the wrong emotion if you showed up with good intentions and made the best decision with available information. Replace self-punishment with compassion for both the patient and yourself—and reach out to trusted colleagues instead of isolating in shame.
3. Radical responsibility means protecting your time and energy—no one else will: No one is coming to save you from inbox overload, double-booked schedules, or skipping lunch. Taking care of yourself (eating, hydrating, setting boundaries) isn't selfish—it's essential for sustainable patient care. Learn to respect your own time before burnout forces you to leave medicine entirely.

Meet Dr. Karen Leitner:

Dr. Karen Leitner spends the bulk of her time helping women doctors recognize their amazingness and feel better in their lives (in addition to getting paid what they deserve.) She lives outside Boston< MA with her husband, her beloved mini goldendoodle Oscar, and three school-age daughters—and loves to travel, sing karaoke, and fight the patriarchy (preferably in that order).

Connect with Dr. Karen Leitner:

🌐 Website https://www.karenleitnermd.com/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/karenleitnermd/

🌐 https://go.karenleitnermd.com/masterclass free class for women physicians
looking for more time/less stress

--------------

Would you like to view a transcript of this episode? Click Here

**** Charting Champions is a premiere, lifetime access Physician only program that is helping Physicians get home with today's work done. All the proven tools, support and community you need to create time for your life outside of medicine.

Learn more at https://www.chartingcoach.ca

**** Enjoying this podcast? Please share it with someone who would benefit. Also, don’t forget to hit “follow” so you get all the new episodes as soon as they are released.
**** Come hang out with me on Facebook or Instagram. Follow me @chartingcoach to get more practical tools to help you create sustainable clinical medicine in your life.

**** Questions? Comments? Want to share how this podcast has helped you? Shoot me an email at admin@reachcareercoaching.ca. I would love to hear from you.