The Impact of Electronic Health Records on Time Efficiency of Physicians and Nurses: A Systematic Review

Background

This article is a review of literature which evaluates the consequences of charting time in an EHR by clinicians such as doctors and nurses. It reviews what factors affected the efficiency and differences in the documentation times. Over 20 papers were reviewed and differences such as types of documentation, such as bedside or point of care systems were compared.

Methods

The researchers reviewed hundreds of articles that contained the terms EHRs and workflow. The publications also had to have the following:

• Comparison group as part of the study design
• Documentation times as part of the outcomes
• Time differences quantified and estimated
• Subjects were health care workers
• Study site had to be a home, clinic, or hospital

Results

Generally, all the studies showed some decrease in documentation time for nurses and an increase for physicians. The differences in type of documentation between physicians and nurses was cited as one of the reasons for this variation.

Conclusion

Efficiency of documenting in EHRs need to be assessed from the different user's perspective. Because documenting in templates, CPOE, or care plans can differ by physicians and nurses, it should be evaluated seperately.

Comments

I agree that nursing and physician measurement of efficiency in documentation should be measured independently.