Journal article
BALANCING DOCUMENTATION AND DIRECT PATIENT CARE ACTIVITIES: A STUDY OF A MATURE ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD SYSTEM
International journal of industrial ergonomics, Vol.72, pp.338-346
07/2019
DOI: 10.1016/j.ergon.2019.06.012
PMCID: PMC7083584
PMID: 32201437
Abstract
US hospitals now fully embrace electronic documentation systems as a way to reduce medical errors and improve patient safety outcomes. Whether spending time on electronic documentation detracts from the time available for direct patient care, however, is still unresolved. There is no knowledge on the permanent effects of documenting electronically and whether it takes away significant time from patient care when the healthcare information system is mature. To understand the time spent on documentation, direct patient care tasks, and other clinical tasks in a mature information system, we conducted an observational and interview study in a midwestern academic hospital. The hospital implemented an electronic medical record system 11 years ago. We observed 22 health care workers across intensive care units, inpatient floors, and an outpatient clinic in the hospital. Results show that healthcare workers spend more time on documentation activities compared to patient care activities. Clinical roles have no influence on the time spent on documentation. This paper describes results on the time spent between documentation and patient care tasks, and discusses implications for future practice.
The study applies to healthcare industry that faces immense challenges in balancing documentation activities and patient care activities.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- BALANCING DOCUMENTATION AND DIRECT PATIENT CARE ACTIVITIES: A STUDY OF A MATURE ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD SYSTEM
- Creators
- Amirmasoud Momenipur - University of IowaPriyadarshini R Pennathur - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- International journal of industrial ergonomics, Vol.72, pp.338-346
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.ergon.2019.06.012
- PMID
- 32201437
- PMCID
- PMC7083584
- NLM abbreviation
- Int J Ind Ergon
- ISSN
- 0169-8141
- eISSN
- 1872-8219
- Grant note
- R00 LM011309 / NLM NIH HHS
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 07/2019
- Academic Unit
- Industrial and Systems Engineering; Internal Medicine
- Record Identifier
- 9984186963102771
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