Reading and Writing: Qualitative Analysis of Pharmacists' Use of the EHR when Preparing for Team Rounds

In the collaborative hospital environment, pharmacists are important members of the healthcare team, yet compared to physicians and nurses, little is known about pharmacists' information needs or how they interact with the electronic health record (EHR). We directly observed seven clinical inpatient pharmacists as they interacted with the EHR preparing for clinical rounds using an eye-tracking camera and contextual inquiry. Pharmacists spent 50% of their time reading information from the EHR, such as notes and medication lists, and 27% of their time copying EHR data onto paper, such as patient history and laboratory results. In an environment where minutes count, the results of this study can help inform the development of CDS tools and/or EHR designs to facilitate the information needs of the pharmacists in providing care for their patients.