Nurses' Actual Usage of EMRs: An Access Log-Based Analysis

Area of Science:

• Nursing Informatics
• Health Information Management
• Human-Computer Interaction in Healthcare

Background:

• Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) generate valuable data for analyzing clinical workflows.
• Understanding nurse interaction with EMR systems is crucial for optimizing usability and efficiency.
• Previous research has explored EMR adoption but detailed analysis of specific screen access patterns is less common.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate nurse utilization patterns of a specific Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system screen.
• To analyze the frequency and timing of access to the 'outcome Input' screen within the EMR.
• To gain insights into how nurses use the EMR for patient monitoring and record-keeping.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of a large dataset of 394,708 EMR access log entries over one week.
• Focus on access events related to the 'outcome Input' screen.
• Correlating EMR access data with observed nursing tasks and patient monitoring.

Main Results:

• The 'outcome Input' screen was accessed consistently throughout a 24-hour period.
• Nurses accessed the screen for various tasks, including viewing patient information and inputting data for record-keeping.
• Access patterns suggest continuous engagement with the EMR for monitoring patient conditions.

Conclusions:

• EMR access logs provide a detailed, objective view of nursing activities.
• Continuous access to the 'outcome Input' screen highlights its importance in daily nursing practice.
• Findings can inform EMR system design and training to better support nursing workflows.