It's kind of "dog-bites-man" type news, but there is even more evidence that physicians not only don't think EHRs are helping them but actually see them as contributing to burnout. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic found that use of EHRs (or computerized physician order entries -- CPOEs) was associated with lower satisfaction with time spent on clerical tasks, with nearly half of physicians saying the amount of time spent on clerical tasks was unreasonable. No wonder the AMA CEO recently complained that physicians were turning into the "most expensive data entry force on the face of the planet."
physician burnout
See the following -
A Burnout Fix: Occupational Health
In the midst of the doctor shortage and burnout epidemic, occupational medicine is the best-kept secret in U.S. health care. Read More »
- Login to post comments
A Public Health Perspective on ONC's Strategy to Reduce Burden on Physicians
On November 28, 2018, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) released a draft Strategy on Reducing Regulatory and Administrative Burden Relating to the Use of Health IT and EHRs for public comment. The strategy aims to reduce the time and effort and improve the functionality of electronic health records (EHRs) for clinicians, hospitals, and other healthcare organizations. This strategy was developed primarily through the efforts of ONC-convened workgroups in response to requirements laid out by Congress in the 21st Century Cures Act (Section 13103). The report itself does not identify who exactly served on these workgroups and what organizations were represented.
- Login to post comments
CCHF Unveils Book Warning of "the Dangers of Electronic Health Records" at the FreedomFest 2018 Conference
A new, groundbreaking book from Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF) will expose how the mandated, government-certified EHR technology (CEHRT) has negatively affected both doctors and patients. Written by CCHF president and co-founder Twila Brase, RN, PHN, and published by Beaver’s Pond Press...Brase’s extensively researched work shows how and why Congress forced doctors and hospitals to install a data-collecting, command and control surveillance system in the exam room. It also includes the impact of EHRs on privacy, patient care, costs, patient safety and more, according to doctors and more than 125 studies....This week, Brase is unveiling “Big Brother in the Exam Room” at FreedomFest 2018 at the Paris Resort Las Vegas. Brase will be a part of several panels and will introduce the book to fellow freedom-loving patriots who recognize that rights also extend to health care...
- Login to post comments
EHR Burdens Leave Docs Burned Out, in Critical Condition
The electronic medical records that came with a promise of improving care efficiency are instead forcing physicians to spend more face time with a computer screen than with their patients. An observational analysis and survey of 57 primary care and specialty physicians in four states that was detailed this week in Annals of Internal Medicine shows that for every hour a physician spends providing direct clinical face time with a patient, nearly two additional hours are spent on EHRs and administrative tasks...
- Login to post comments
EHR Tasks Take Up Half of the Primary Care Physician’s Workday
It’s practically become a mantra in healthcare: EHRs take up too much of physicians’ time. But just how much time do doctors spend on EHR-related tasks? A new study out of the University of Wisconsin and the American Medical Association dug deeper. From 2013 to 2016, researchers analyzed 142 family medicine physicians, all of whom used an Epic EHR, at a system in southern Wisconsin. All data was captured via EHR event log data during clinic hours (8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday) and non-clinic hours...
- Login to post comments
EHRs Inflict Enormous Pain on Doctors. It’ll Take More Than Stopwatches to Learn Why
Electronic health records slow doctors down and distract them from meaningful face time caring for patients. That is the sad but unsurprising finding of a time and motion study published in Tuesday’s Annals of Internal Medicine1. A team of researchers determined that physicians are spending almost half of their time in the office on electronic health records (EHRs) and desk work and just 27 percent on face time with patients — which is what the vast majority of doctors went into medicine to do. Once they get home, they average another one to two hours completing EHRs...
- Login to post comments
Electronic Medical Practice Environment Can Lead to Physician Burnout
The growth and evolution of the electronic environment in health care is taking a toll on U.S. physicians. That's according to a national study of physicians led by Mayo Clinic which shows the use of electronic health records and computerized physician order entry leads to lower physician satisfaction and higher rates of professional burnout. The findings appear in Mayo Clinic Proceedings...
- Login to post comments
Ensuring Physician EHR Use Doesn’t Lead to Physician Burnout
With the entire healthcare industry undergoing tremendous amounts of change — from how care is coordinated and delivered to how providers are reimbursed for that care — there are likely to be side effects. One the head of the American Medical Association (AMA) is targeting is the matter of physician burnout tied to providers having to balance the day-to-day realities of patient care with federal and state mandates regulating aspects of that care such physician EHR use and clinical quality reporting...
- Login to post comments
HHS Secretary Equates Health IT to ‘Burden’ for Doctors
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price advocated Thursday for reducing the burden placed upon physicians and health care providers by the health technology that is otherwise meant to improve care for patients. Speaking at his first Health Datapalooza as the head of HHS, Price said the proliferation of health IT is something that “can have remarkably challenging and sometimes destructive consequences”...
- Login to post comments
How disparate EHR systems, lack of interoperability contribute to physician stress, burnout
Physician burnout is an increasingly common issue in healthcare, and there are a lot of factors that can contribute to it. Long hours, paperwork and the burden of administrative tasks all play a part. But electronic medical records can also contribute to burnout, largely because each system is different. With disparate electronic health record systems comes an added hardship for physicians, affecting their work -- and their reimbursement. Compounding the issue is that many physicians are no longer limited to just one facility. Many handle rounds at multiple hospitals and/or practices, and if each has its own EMR system that doesn't necessarily communicate with the others, it can be a growing headache.
- Login to post comments
How the Right Data Analytics Diminish Administrative Burden on Clinicians
Data flooding the healthcare industry has the potential to completely revolutionize patient care and drive improved health outcomes. Yet when left inadequately structured or under-automated, the deluge of data is one contributing factor to administrative burden — a pervasive issue affecting clinicians across most specialties. Eighty percent of physicians today are professionally overextended or at capacity, leaving them with no time to see additional patients, according to the 2016 Physicians Foundation survey...
- Login to post comments
Meet the Family Doctor with a Rare Practice — He Only Makes House Calls
When it comes to Ernest Brown's medical practice, the doctor is definitely not in. Ever. That’s a good thing for his patients, however, because it usually means he’s out visiting them. Brown, 49, is a family practitioner who only makes house calls. That means he travels to patients — at their homes, work sites, or hotel rooms if they’re visiting from out of town...
- Login to post comments
On the Need for a Universal Health Record
The current path of progress of the EHR, with its concentration on “meaningful use,” and an intellectual property regime that does not fully exploit the capacity for innovation by end-users is approaching an evolutionary dead-end. It is time to treat the EHR as what it should be: an integral part of medical care that has limitless potential for maximizing the use of information acquired in the provision of health care, and not an impediment to optimal care and a bugaboo for the physician. Read More »
- Login to post comments
Physician EHR Use, Workload Trumping Face Time with Patients
For every hour physicians spend with patients, they spend another two hours on physician EHR use and deskwork, according to a recent study from the American Medical Association. The AMA study highlights what many consider the primary issue with the increasing prevalence of physician EHR use: the significant workload the technology adds for providers...
- Login to post comments