On paper, electronic health records (EHRs) sound like such a great idea – streamlining physician documentation, patient health records and quality reporting so docs can devote more time to the practice of medicine.
Turns out, that goal may be a ways off.
New survey results from the
American College of Physicians (ACP) find that physician dissatisfaction with their health records systems has been growing over the past two years, and further, that post-EHR productivity is nowhere near what it was prior to implementation of the software systems.
“Dissatisfaction is increasing regardless of practice type or EHR system,” observes Michael S. Barr, M.D., MBA, FACP, who leads ACP's Medical Practice, Professionalism & Quality division.
Among the findings:
· The percentage of clinicians who would not recommend their EHR to a colleague increased from 24% in 2010 to 39% in 2012.
· Clinicians who were “very satisfied” with the ability for their EHR to improve care dropped by 6% compared with 2010 while those who were “very dissatisfied” increased 10%. (Surgical specialists were the least satisfied group. Primary care physicians were more satisfied than medical subspecialists.)
· 34% of users were “very dissatisfied” with the ability of their EHR to decrease workload – an increase from 19% in 2010.
· Survey responses also indicated that it is becoming more difficult to return to pre-EHR implementation productivity. In 2012, 32% of the responders had not returned to normal productivity compared with 20% in 2010.
· Dissatisfaction with ease of use increased from 23% in 2010 to 37% in 2012, while satisfaction with ease of use dropped from 61 to 48%.
“These findings highlight the need for the meaningful use program and EHR manufacturers to focus on improving EHR features and usability to help reduce inefficient work flows, improve error rates and patient care, and for practices to recognize the importance of ongoing training at all stages of EHR adoption,” Barr concluded.