Who is behind this project?
My name is Gabe Charbonneau. I'm a family physician on a mission to disrupt burnout.
I have a lot of interests, but I’m especially passionate about technology and medicine. I’m the Co-founder & CTO of Fluent Systems, an EHR automation software company. I develop EHR problem-solving content for Practicing Excellence and their Clinician Experience Project. I’ve enjoyed being a physician advisor to the AI scribe companies, Tenor and Saykara. And, one of my favorite projects was when my son and I built an iPhone game about diabetes with a flying super-hero pancreas. My greatest fulfillment is when I sit with doctors one-on-one and help craft tools to fix the things that are most holding them from success in the EHR.
Primary care is in the epicenter of clinician burnout. These are my friends and peers. I would be lying if I said I had never felt burned out. In fact, my own struggles have often sparked the fire that drives me to develop my best tools and strategies.
Positive change is happening. Stanford, Kaiser, and Boston Medical Center are a few of the leaders that have been paving the way. We are seeing compelling data that scribe programs are one of the most effective anti-burnout measures for today’s systems. CMS and ONC are working on it. The CPC+ program cut it’s tracking requirements from 19 measures down to 2. Even EHR vendors are starting to take it seriously.
Where we are blind is that there is still quite a bit of stigma about burnout. This needs to stop. We know from our own experience treating patients with mental illness that stigma makes it harder for those who need it to get help. I had a friend tell me that maybe my shirts shouldn’t say the word burnout because it’s so charged. I pushed back and said this is a real problem, and it’s time to look it straight in the eye. He agreed.
Another issue is that these problems didn’t pop-up overnight. Large organizations especially can be slow to adopt changes, even when positive.
Please help me spread the word that burnout doesn’t have to be the accepted norm. We can all make a difference. There are people out there now doing great things to help. Highlight them and help amplify their impact. Oh, and if you like the shirts and what they stand for, share fun selfies on social media with the #FightBurnout hashtag. If you know someone who needs recognition with a t-shirt, or would otherwise like to get involved, reach out. I would love to hear from you!
Cheers,
-Gabe
