Automating Resident Case Logs: Narrative Review and Challenges Ahead

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Surgical Education
• Health Systems Research

Background:

• Manual compilation of surgical resident case logs is prone to inaccuracies and incompleteness.
• Electronic Health Record (EHR) data offers potential for automating case logging.
• Automation can enhance log accuracy and reduce resident administrative burden.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review current literature on automated case logging systems.
• To understand approaches, outcomes, and challenges of automated logging.
• To identify trends in surgical resident operative experience documentation.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a narrative review of MEDLINE, Scopus, and Embase databases (1946-2025).
• Included English-language, peer-reviewed studies on automated or semiautomated case logging.
• Excluded studies focusing solely on case log analysis without automation.

Main Results:

• Screened 64 articles, identifying 8 semiautomated systems across various specialties.
• No fully automated end-to-end systems were found.
• Systems improved logged case numbers, accuracy, completeness, and efficiency, reducing administrative burden.

Conclusions:

• Leveraging EHR data for automated resident case logging enhances accuracy and reduces workload.
• Current systems are primarily semiautomated and institution-specific.
• Challenges remain in data integration, coding consistency, and specialty-specific requirements.