How HR Can Cure the Telehealth Burnout Surge

The launch and expansion of telemedicine ha​ve​​ ​made health care more widely accessible, and experts predict the field will expand by 11.3% over the next five years. But the virtual health care model’s promise of patient access and efficiency is creating a workforce planning crisis. 

Virtual care’s “always-on” model, defined by stacked video visits, constant patient messaging, and blurred shift boundaries, is overwhelming clinicians and straining traditional staffing models. 

The result is rising burnout, turnover, and declining patient satisfaction. Burnout is a significant factor in employee turnover: Half of burned-out employees are actively searching — or will soon be searching — for a new job, at a rate over three times that of engaged employees.

“As virtual demand grows, so does the need to balance access and clinician workload,” said DJ Campbell, SHRM-SCP, chief HR officer at Sanford Health, the largest rural health care system in the country.  

​​​HR leaders face a dual challenge: protecting clinician well-being while ensuring that telehealth can operate as a sustainable, long-term model.

The Workforce Planning Gap

Legacy health care workforce frameworks were never designed for the level of real-time variability introduced by telehealth. Fixed staffing ratios and rigid shift structures struggle to flex up or down as digital demand changes, according to Campbell. That variability, combined with the ongoing shortage of doctors and nurses, intensifies staffing challenges. 

“Digital care has introduced new patterns of demand that fluctuate by hour, day, and season — often in ways that don’t align with traditional staffing plans built around predictable clinic schedules,” Campbell said. 

Training and Development: Workforce Planning - The Future of Work

Reimagining Staffing Models

Optimizing staffing in a hybrid care environment requires tight integration between HR, operations, and clinical leadership. Campbell has observed that effective organizations create shared governance structures that jointly review workforce data, patient volume trends, and productivity metrics, enabling them to make unified staffing decisions.

“HR provides analytics and workforce design expertise, operations ensure alignment with access and throughput goals, and clinical leaders bring front-line insight into workload and patient safety,” he said.

Redesigned staffing models must strike a balance between efficiency and recovery time, incorporate rotation between virtual and in-person work, and ensure staffing levels that protect both clinician focus and patient safety.

​​“The cognitive load of virtual care can be significant,” Campbell said. “Managing multiple screens, monitoring systems, and rapid patient transitions creates mental fatigue faster than traditional care models.”​

Integrating Workforce Data

Building a sustainable telehealth workforce starts with the strategic use of data and analytics. Campbell shared three strategies that HR leaders can use, even without access to enterprise-level analytics tools.

1. Start with simple data mapping. Use existing scheduling, payroll, and patient volume reports to identify patterns — such as peak-demand hours or departments that are consistently understaffed. Even basic spreadsheets can reveal trends to guide staffing adjustments.
2. Engage front-line leaders in workload planning. Regularly ask nurse managers, physicians, and support staff for feedback. Frequent listening sessions can surface workflow bottlenecks and staffing inefficiencies that data alone might miss.
3. Pilot flexible scheduling models. Start with small-scale tests of shared staffing pools, remote coverage, or shorter virtual shifts. These quick experiments can generate real insights about capacity and engagement before larger investments in analytics platforms are made.

“A well-designed telemedicine staffing model delivers both operational and clinical returns,” Campbell said. “Organizations that balance workload, staffing ratios, and demand forecasting typically see reduced labor costs, improved access and patient throughput, higher clinician engagement and retention, and enhanced patient satisfaction.”

Training and Development: People Analytics - Analyzing People Data

Sustaining the Future of Virtual Care

In telehealth, patient care begins with the design of a sustainable workforce. Using analytics to forecast demand and balance caseloads improves efficiency and retention. Aligning HR, operations, and clinical teams ensures that workforce strategies simultaneously support clinicians, advance organizational goals, and deliver high-quality patient care.

Toolkit: Workforce Planning - Aligning Talent with Strategic Objectives