Improved Patient Flow and Provider Efficiency After the Implementation of an Electronic Health Record

Electronic health records are used widely across the nation in many different types of healthcare facilities. Electronic health record systems can provide more accurate and complete information about a patient's health, improve patient safety, and improve patient care. The purpose of this project is to evaluate a provider efficiency and workflow program at a hospital-owned, freestanding urgent care system after implementation of an electronic health record. A retrospective, longitudinal approach was used to evaluate the implementation of an electronic health record system among six freestanding urgent care clinics. The logic model was used as a guiding framework to determine whether provider efficiency and patient flow were improved. Data were collected from participants via an online survey, electronic health record data review, paper chart review, and direct observation of providers. An evaluation of a provider efficiency program using door-to-triage, door-to-provider, door-to-discharge, and average length of stay at each urgent care clinic was collected. The results indicate improvement in all areas after implementation of the electronic health record in all six urgent care settings. The average length of stay decreased from 109 minutes in 2014 to 73 minutes in 2016.