Hospital rounding--EHR's impact

The purpose of this paper is to understand the time spent on various tasks during physician inpatient rounds and to examine the new electronic health records (EHRs) impact on time distribution.

Trained observers shadowed hospital physicians to record times for various tasks before and after EHR implementation.

Electronic records did not improve efficiency. However, task times were redistributed. Physicians spent more time reviewing patient charts using time saved from miscellaneous work.

The study focusses solely on work distribution and the changes it underwent. It does not include quality measures either on patient results or physician satisfaction.

As EHR provides rich information and easier access to patient records, it motivates physicians to spend more time reviewing patient charts. Hospital administrators seeking immediate returns on EHR investment, therefore, may be disappointed.

Unlike previous work, this study was conducted in a non-teaching hospital, providing a task-time comparison without any educational and team factor influence. The result serves as a benchmark for many community hospital managers seeking to address the same issue.