Health Information Systems' Support for Management and Changing Work: Survey Study Among Physicians

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Health Informatics
• Physician Leadership

Background:

• Digitalization is transforming healthcare, necessitating physician adoption of new technologies like electronic health records.
• Physicians, particularly leaders, have expressed concerns about health information systems (HISs) supporting management and knowledge management.
• Understanding physician perceptions of digitalization's impact on clinical work and leadership is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between leadership position and perceived changes in clinical work due to digitalization among Finnish physicians.
• To examine physician leaders' views on HISs supporting management and how these views correlate with their perceptions of digitalization's impact on clinical work.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional, nation-wide web-based survey of 4630 Finnish physicians was conducted in spring 2021.
• Multivariable logistic regression analyzed the association between leadership and perceived digitalization-driven work changes (preventive work, patient information access, collaboration, clinical encounters).
• Analyses of covariance explored the link between perceived work changes and HIS management support among physician leaders.

Main Results:

• Physician leaders reported significantly higher agreement that digitalization improved preventive work, patient information access, interprofessional collaboration, and accelerated clinical encounters compared to non-leaders.
• Leaders who positively perceived these work changes also reported that health information systems effectively supported their management tasks.
• The study adjusted for gender, age, and sector in all analyses.

Conclusions:

• Physician leaders generally hold more positive views on digitalization's impact on clinical work than their non-leader counterparts.
• Positive perceptions of digitalization among leaders are linked to their belief that HISs support management functions.
• Healthcare organizations must address physicians' evolving work perceptions and ensure HISs are high-quality, usable, and supportive of both clinical and managerial tasks.