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Physicians' electronic inbox work patterns and factors associated with high inbox work duration.
Fatema Akbar1, Gloria Mark1, E Margaret Warton2
1Department of Informatics, Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California, USA.
Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA
|October 16, 2020
Summary
Primary care physicians (PCPs) spend nearly an hour daily managing electronic health record (EHR) inboxes, often outside work hours. Patient messages and results consume the most time, suggesting targeted interventions could reduce PCP workload.
Area of Science:
- Health Informatics
- Medical Practice Management
- Physician Workflow Analysis
Background:
- Electronic health record (EHR) systems are integral to modern healthcare communication.
- Physician inbox management is a significant, yet understudied, component of daily clinical workflow.
- Understanding time allocation and factors influencing EHR inbox use is crucial for optimizing physician efficiency.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the time primary care physicians (PCPs) dedicate to managing their EHR inboxes.
- To characterize daily patterns and identify key drivers of EHR inbox workload.
- To investigate the types of messages contributing most to physician time spent on inbox management.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 1 month of EHR inbox data from 1275 PCPs within a large medical group.
- Linking EHR inbox data with physician demographic and patient encounter information.
- Quantitative assessment of time spent on inbox management, message types, and associated factors.
Main Results:
- PCPs spent an average of 52 minutes daily on EHR inbox management, with 37% occurring outside of work hours.
- Patient-initiated messages and test results constituted the largest proportion of inbox workload (28% and 29%, respectively).
- Factors associated with longer inbox duration included being female, higher patient encounter volume, older patient populations, and increased time spent per message.
Conclusions:
- EHR inbox management demands approximately one hour per workday for PCPs, frequently extending beyond scheduled hours.
- Interventions focused on streamlining the handling of patient messages and results could significantly alleviate PCP inbox burden.
- Optimizing EHR inbox workflows is essential for physician well-being and efficient patient care delivery.
Keywords:
electronic health recordselectronic mailin-basketmedical informatics applicationswork connectivity after hoursMore Related Videos
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