Electronic Health Records as an Educational Tool: Viewpoint

Area of Science:

• Medical Education Technology
• Health Informatics
• Clinical Training

Background:

• Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are widely adopted but underutilized for medical education.
• Physicians dedicate significant time to EHR tasks, reducing patient interaction.
• Current EHR use limits potential for clinical care enhancement and teaching.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a preliminary framework for utilizing EHRs in resident education and evaluation.
• To guide medical educators in leveraging EHR capabilities for teaching.
• To establish methods for assessing resident performance within EHR systems.

Main Methods:

• Reviewing under-discussed EHR educational capabilities with examples.
• Emphasizing clinical note quality improvement using spreadsheet-based assessment.
• Integrating the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Core Competencies and Milestones (CCMs) with the Reporter-Interpreter-Manager-Educator (RIME) model.
• Discussing assessment of clinical utility, outcome, and reasoning within EHRs.

Main Results:

• A pilot conceptual framework, the CCM framework, is described.
• The framework demonstrates EHR utilization for education in clinical settings.
• The framework guides the use of EHRs for resident training and evaluation.

Conclusions:

• Medical educators should explore evolving EHR technologies for new educational opportunities.
• The proposed framework is adaptable for various residency programs.
• Future research is needed to validate the framework's impact on trainee education.