Diferencias de género en la utilización del registro electrónico de salud por parte de los cirujanos

Rates of female physician burnout continue to rise, and various aspects of electronic documentation are frequently associated with burnout. Female physicians have been found to spend more time in the electronic health record (EHR) compared with males. It remains unclear whether surgeons exhibit similar differences. This study was conducted to analyze EHR usage patterns of surgeons and assess for gender differences.

This is a retrospective cross-sectional study of all attending surgeons across all surgical specialties at a single institution between May 2022 and May 2023. The primary outcomes were differences in time spent in the EHR, measured by EHR metrics (time in system and subcategories including time in notes, orders, clinical review, and in-basket; messages received by patients and staff and the turnaround time for each type; time spent after hours and on unscheduled days; orders with team contributions). Multivariable linear regression was performed to analyze differences by gender while controlling for practice characteristics.

593 attending surgeons were included (73% male). Female surgeons spent 35% more time in the EHR compared with male surgeons (p < 0.001), received more messages from patients and staff (p ≤ 0.031), and spent more time on unscheduled days and outside scheduled clinical hours (p < 0.001).

This study found significant differences in EHR usage and message volume between male and female surgeons. Further investigation into causes of these observed differences is warranted.