Primary care physician time utilization before and after implementation of an electronic health record: A time-motion study

Despite benefits associated with the use of electronic health records (EHRs), one major barrier to adoption is the concern that EHRs may take longer for physicians to use than paper-based systems. To address this issue, we performed a time-motion study in five primary care clinics. Twenty physicians...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of biomedical informatics 2005-06, Vol.38 (3), p.176-188
Main Authors: Pizziferri, Lisa, Kittler, Anne F., Volk, Lynn A., Honour, Melissa M., Gupta, Sameer, Wang, Samuel, Wang, Tiffany, Lippincott, Margaret, Li, Qi, Bates, David W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitude of Health Personnel
Attitude to Computers
Consumer Behavior - statistics & numerical data
Electronic health record
Medical Records Systems, Computerized - statistics & numerical data
Physician satisfaction
Physician workload
Physicians, Family - statistics & numerical data
Primary Health Care - statistics & numerical data
Surveys and Questionnaires
Time and Motion Studies
Time Management - methods
Time-motion study
United States
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Summary:Despite benefits associated with the use of electronic health records (EHRs), one major barrier to adoption is the concern that EHRs may take longer for physicians to use than paper-based systems. To address this issue, we performed a time-motion study in five primary care clinics. Twenty physicians were observed and specific activities were timed during a clinic session before and after EHR implementation. Surveys evaluated physicians’ perceptions regarding the EHR. Post-implementation, the adjusted mean overall time spent per patient during clinic sessions decreased by 0.5 min ( p = 0.86; 95% confidence interval [−5.05, 6.04]) from a pre-intervention adjusted average of 27.55 min (SE = 2.1) to a post-intervention adjusted average of 27.05 min (SE = 1.6). A majority of survey respondents believed EHR use results in quality improvement, yet only 29% reported that EHR documentation takes the same amount of time or less compared to the paper-based system. While the EHR did not require more time for physicians during a clinic session, further studies should assess the EHR’s potential impact on non-clinic time.
ISSN:1532-0464
1532-0480
DOI:10.1016/j.jbi.2004.11.009