Use of protocol-driven medication refills by pharmacists decreases rheumatologist in-basket work and improves rheumatologist satisfaction.

Burn-out among US physicians has been on the rise in the past few decades. Similarly, rheumatologists in the Geisinger Health System have experienced professional dissatisfaction through significant administrative burden and in-basket work. We embedded pharmacists into our rheumatology team in 2019 with the aim of reallocating medication refills to pharmacists, trained professionals in this domain, to help reduce physician workload and burn-out and increase satisfaction.