Clinician Needs for Electronic Health Record Pediatric and Adolescent Weight Management Tools: A Mixed-Methods Study

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Endocrinology
• Health Informatics
• Clinical Practice Improvement

Background:

• Clinicians face significant barriers in managing pediatric and adolescent obesity, including time constraints and limited effective electronic health record (EHR) tools.
• Current EHR tools are often not developed with clinician input, hindering their utility in weight management care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify barriers to effective pediatric weight management faced by clinicians.
• To explore how EHR weight management tools can be developed to overcome these barriers and support clinicians.

Main Methods:

• A mixed-methods study combining virtual focus groups with clinicians and a survey of primary care providers.
• Thematic analysis of focus group transcripts and descriptive statistical analysis of survey data from clinicians across various health centers.

Main Results:

• Clinicians reported moderate effectiveness in lifestyle counseling but found current healthcare systems and EHR tools inadequate for pediatric weight management.
• Key themes highlighted the need for EHR tools that enhance clinical efficiency, support patient communication, improve continuity of care, and reduce documentation burden.
• Clinicians expressed a preference for real-time patient data over recalled data within EHR systems.

Conclusions:

• Existing healthcare systems and EHR tools do not sufficiently support clinicians in managing pediatric and adolescent obesity.
• Incorporating clinician input into the design and testing of EHR weight management tools is essential for addressing care barriers and improving EHR usability.