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Teaching Electronic Health Record Communication Skills
Mary Val Palumbo1, Marie Sandoval, Vicki Hart
1Author Affiliations: Department of Nursing, University of Vermont, Burlington (Dr Palumbo); Department of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington (Dr Sandoval); Adult Primary Care-South Burlington, Vermont (Dr Sandoval); Office of Health Promotion Research, University of Vermont, Burlington (Dr Hart); and University of Vermont Medical Center and University of Vermont College of Nursing, South Burlington (Ms Drill).
Nurse practitioner students improved their electronic health record (EHR) communication skills with practice. Training on EHR-specific communication strategies can enhance patient encounters.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Health Informatics
- Nursing Practice
Background:
- Effective communication is crucial in healthcare.
- Electronic Health Records (EHRs) present unique communication challenges for clinicians.
- Nurse practitioner students require specific training to integrate EHR use with patient interaction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate nurse practitioner students' communication skills during history taking with EHR use.
- To assess changes in time allocation related to EHR interaction during patient encounters.
- To determine the impact of practice and education on EHR-specific communication skills.
Main Methods:
- A pilot study involving 16 nurse practitioner students.
- Videotaping of students interacting with standardized patients using EHRs over two sessions.
- Observer-based recording of time spent typing, talking, and computer-focused behaviors.
Main Results:
- Mean EHR engagement time decreased from 30.6% in the formative session to 24% in the evaluative session.
- Significant changes observed in time spent typing only (+12.8%) and looking at the computer (-9.6%) between sessions.
- While 'typing and talking' time showed a non-significant decrease (-3.1%), overall computer engagement reduced with practice.
Conclusions:
- Student practice and education can reduce time spent solely on EHR interaction during patient encounters.
- Instruction focusing on EHR-specific communication skills is beneficial for nurse practitioner students.
- A mnemonic approach is suggested to reinforce effective EHR communication strategies.
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