Vocera Releases New Research Report Examining Physician and Nurse Burnout

SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 02, 2016 -- Vocera Communications, Inc. (NYSE:VCRA), the leading healthcare communications company, today announced that its Experience Innovation Network, focused on research and designing the next standards in care, has released a new report, Human Experience at the Forefront: Elevating Resilience, Well-Being, and Joy in Healthcare. The research report examines how leaders at hospitals and health systems are addressing the challenges of care team burnout and compassion fatigue.

More than 150 executives from in-patient and out-patient organizations across the United States and Canada participated in the Experience Innovation Network study. Completing online surveys or participating in one-on-one qualitative interviews, respondents provided insight into how healthcare organizations are addressing burnout among care teams and building cultures that support resilience, well-being, and joy.

“The increase in burnout among physicians, nurses and other healthcare staff has reached a critical tipping point; and while many leaders agree that it’s a widespread issue that directly affects patient care, only a few visionaries are actually prioritizing the well-being of their teams as a top strategic priority,” said Liz Boehm, research director at Vocera.

More than 90 percent of research participants said improving staff well-being is critical to organizational success. In addition, a tired and stressed out workforce has cultural and clinical implications. Sixty four percent of survey respondents cited high staff turnover rates as the No. 1 symptom of clinician burnout followed by diminished relationships among care team members, and reduced quality of care and patient safety. Yet, more than 70 percent said their organizations are still doing a poor or extremely poor job of preventing burnout or supporting nurse and physician resilience. Though in the minority, the organizations that are doing well are those that integrate physician, nurse and staff well-being into every strategic decision.

“Competing projects and chasing industry scores make it challenging to focus on people, but it’s not impossible. Organizations must create a metric for humanity and find innovative ways to elevate physician, nurse and staff well-being,” said Bridget Duffy, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Vocera. “It’s time to restore purpose and joy in healthcare through bold leadership, process improvement, and technologies that strengthen relationships. Investing in human capital to fuel a more resilient workforce is the only way to improve outcomes in a sustainable way.”

The full research report will be released at the Experience Innovation Network’s 11^th semi-annual CXO Roundtable, Nov. 2-4, 2016, in San Francisco. The Experience Innovation Network, part of Vocera, is an international group of industry thought leaders focused on putting the science behind the experience of care and discovering innovative processes and technologies that meet the Quadruple Aim of improving population health, elevating patient-centered care, and reducing costs while restoring joy to the practice of medicine. To dive deeper into the research findings, download the report via this link.

Many of the challenges identified in the report will be addressed at the CXO Roundtable, which will feature healthcare innovations fueling a resilient workforce. Keynote speakers include Christine Sinsky, MD, vice president of professional satisfaction at the American Medical Association; Eric Langshur, the co-founder of Life Cross Training and New York Times bestselling co-author of Start Here: Master the Lifelong Habit of Wellbeing; and James Doty, MD, director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford Medicine and author of Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon's Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart. In addition, Yotam Heineberg, PsyD, a Dignity Health research fellow at the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education will lead a panel discussion with three nurses from Dignity Health about how nurses can drive innovations to improve human connections. In addition, Martha ‘Meg’ Gaines, JD, LLM, cancer survivor, patient advocate, and the director of the Center for Patient Partnerships will provide perspective on how clinician burnout and fatigue impacts patient and their families.

About Vocera
Vocera Communications, Inc. offers the most robust clinical communications system in healthcare. Vocera delivers secure, integrated and intelligent communication solutions that enable care teams to collaborate more efficiently by delivering the right information, to the right person, on the right device, in the right location, at the right time. Vocera solutions provide hands-free voice communication, secure text messaging, patient engagement tools, and integrated clinical workflow with EHRs, nurse call systems and physiologic monitors.  These solutions help improve operational efficiency, quality of care, safety and satisfaction across the continuum of care. In addition to technology solutions, Vocera drives thought leadership and new standards in care to elevate patient, family, nurse and physician experiences via the company's research collaborative, the Experience Innovation Network. Vocera is headquartered in San Jose, California, with offices in San Francisco, Tennessee, Canada, India, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.vocera.com and @VoceraComm on Twitter.

The Vocera logo is a trademark of Vocera Communications, Inc. Vocera® is a trademark of Vocera Communications, Inc. registered in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other trademarks appearing in this release are the property of their respective owners.

MEDIA CONTACT: 
Tara Stultz 
Amendola Communications
440.225.9595 
[email protected]