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Tethered to the EHR: Primary Care Physician Workload Assessment Using EHR Event Log Data and Time-Motion Observations
Brian G Arndt1, John W Beasley2,3, Michelle D Watkinson2
1School of Medicine and Public Health, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin brian.arndt@fammed.wisc.edu.
Annals of Family Medicine
|September 13, 2017
Summary
Primary care physicians spend nearly 6 hours daily on electronic health records (EHR), including after hours. EHR data can pinpoint tasks for delegation to reduce physician burnout and improve job satisfaction.
Area of Science:
- Medical Informatics
- Health Services Research
- Primary Care Medicine
Background:
- Physicians dedicate significant time to electronic health records (EHR), contributing to burnout.
- Increasing demand for non-face-to-face patient care and administrative tasks exacerbates workload.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the time primary care physicians allocate to EHR tasks.
- To differentiate EHR time spent during and after clinic hours using user-event log data.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective cohort study of 142 family medicine physicians.
- Analysis of Epic EHR user-event log data over 3 years.
- Validation of EHR data with direct observation and categorization of 15 EHR task types.
Main Results:
- Physicians spent an average of 5.9 hours daily in the EHR.
- 4.5 hours were during clinic hours, and 1.4 hours were after clinic hours.
- Clerical/administrative tasks and inbox management comprised a significant portion of EHR time.
Conclusions:
- Primary care physicians spend over half their workday on EHR tasks, both during and after clinic hours.
- EHR event logs offer a reliable method for assessing clinician time allocation.
- Identifying delegable EHR tasks can mitigate physician workload and burnout.
Keywords:
burnoutelectronic health recordshealth information technologypractice-based researchprimary careworkloadMore Related Videos
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