The Digital Workload Divide: Investigating Gender Differences in Electronic Health Record Messaging among Primary...

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Primary Care Medicine
• Gender Studies in Healthcare

Background:

• Electronic health record (EHR) patient portals enhance patient-clinician communication and access to primary care.
• However, EHR messaging increases clinician workload, with a notable disparity observed between genders.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the factors contributing to gender-based disparities in EHR messaging workload among primary care clinicians.
• To analyze the impact of patient demographics and panel complexity on this messaging burden.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of EHR messages sent to 267 primary care clinicians at the University of Vermont Health Network (UVMHN).
• Statistical analysis of message volume, content (medical advice requests), and clinician time spent managing messages.
• Evaluation of patient demographics and panel complexity in relation to clinician gender.

Main Results:

• Female clinicians received significantly more patient-initiated medical advice requests (68.28 vs. 49.22 messages/month) and spent more time managing messages (1.85 vs. 1.35 minutes/day) than male clinicians.
• Female patients generated more messages (59 vs. 52 messages/female vs. male), correlating with female clinicians managing higher volumes.
• Panel size and complexity were similar between genders, indicating patient communication behavior as the primary driver of disparity.

Conclusions:

• Female primary care clinicians experience an unequal EHR messaging burden, primarily due to patient demographics and communication behaviors.
• This disparity contributes to an increased risk of burnout among female clinicians.
• Workflow optimization and AI-driven triage systems are recommended to mitigate this imbalance and promote equity.