Since April 2024, overtime caps have applied to physicians as well, and medical institutions are now required to take concrete measures to reduce working hours. That said, reducing working hours without lowering the quality of care is not easy. This article covers the key points of physician work-style reform, then explains practical ways to reduce working hours through AI-driven operational efficiency. Because the details of the system may change, please always check the requirements in the official sources at the end.
What Is Physician Work-Style Reform?
Physician work-style reform is a system aimed at protecting physicians' health while ensuring the quality and safety of medical care, in clinical settings where long working hours tend to become the norm. Since April 2024, caps on physicians' overtime and holiday work have been applied.
The caps differ by the classification of the medical institution. For the "A standard," which covers physicians engaged in general clinical care, the cap is 960 hours per year; for the "B standard," necessary for securing regional healthcare, and the "C standard," related to skill development such as emergency care, the cap is 1,860 hours per year (both including holiday work). Detailed requirements are also defined, such as the fact that working hours at side or secondary jobs are counted together, and additional health-securing measures when working beyond the cap. Please check the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare materials at the end for the specific figures, classifications, and requirements.
"Reviewing Operations" Is Essential to Reducing Working Hours
To comply with the cap, simply ordering people to "go home early" is not enough. To actually reduce working hours, you need to either make the work itself more efficient or shift it to other professions (task shifting/sharing).
The representative work squeezing physicians' hours consists of "ancillary tasks other than clinical care," such as the following:
- Chart entry and documentation
- Creating documents such as referral letters and certificates
- Checking and organizing test results
- Various meetings and clerical work
These ancillary tasks are precisely the area where the effect of AI-driven efficiency is large.
AI Efficiency 1: Shortening Chart Entry
A major cause of physicians' overtime is the chart entry that remains after consultations. Using AI voice input, you can automatically generate a chart draft (in SOAP format) from the conversation during the consultation, dramatically reducing the time spent on entry. When the record is finished between consultations, "take-home work" after the day is reduced, directly leading to shorter working hours.
AI Efficiency 2: Automating Document Creation
Creating documents such as referral letters, medical certificates, and discharge summaries is heavy work that requires a solid block of time. If AI creates a draft based on chart information, physicians can concentrate on reviewing and revising, eliminating the effort of writing from scratch. Compressing the time spent on document work is an initiative with a particularly large effect on reducing working hours.
AI Efficiency 3: Supporting Information Grasp and Task Shifting
If AI handles the summarization of past charts and test results, the time it takes to grasp a patient's condition is shortened. Also, if AI supports claim review and billing recommendations, the burden on medical clerical staff is reduced, making task shifting/sharing across the whole team easier. This leads to optimizing working hours not just for the individual physician but for the entire clinic.
Precautions at the Time of Adoption
- Handling of personal information: Because you handle medical information, choose a system that gives consideration to secure management. Do not enter information that can identify a patient into general-purpose generative AI.
- The final check is done by the physician: AI output is a draft, and the physician is responsible for its content.
- Embed it on the front line: Efficiency tools produce effects only when they are used. Select them including ease of operation and the training system.
Boosting Work-Style Reform with an AI-Native EMR
Pottech's "AI Karte" is an AI-native EMR that integrates automatic chart generation from consultation audio, AI drafting of medical documents such as referral letters, summarization of past charts, and support for claim review. Because it can collectively reduce the time spent on ancillary tasks, it contributes to shortening physicians' working hours and improving the ease of work for the entire team, including nurses and medical clerical staff. It supports both compliance with work-style reform and the quality of care, from the foundation of the EMR.
Conclusion
Physician work-style reform cannot be achieved merely by "cutting working hours"; its essence is "making ancillary tasks efficient." By combining shortened documentation with AI voice input, automated document creation, and support for information grasp and task shifting, you can steadily reduce working hours while maintaining the quality of care.
Through providing AI Karte, Pottech aims to be the ideal business partner for clinics—improving the working environment for physicians, nurses, and medical clerical staff, and supporting clinics in fully realizing what they want to achieve.
For more details, please feel free to contact us.