News: EHR satisfaction sinks among providers

The percentage of healthcare clinicians who say they wouldn't recommend their electronic medical record system to a colleague has grown from 24% in 2010 to 51% in 2014.

Electronic health records systems are failing to live up to clinicians' expectations in terms of cost savings, efficiency, and productivity, and clinician satisfaction with EHRs/EMRs, according to survey data from by AmericanEHR Partners in conjunction with the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, and American Academy of Family Physicians.

According to several years' worth of survey results, physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants are growing increasingly disenchanted with their EHR/EMR systems each year. The 2010 survey, for instance, shows that 39% of respondents were satisfied and 22% were very satisfied with their EHRs/EMRs, compared to 22% and 12%, respectively, in 2014.

Digging into the survey results reveals nuances. For example, the longer a clinician has been using an EHR/EMR, the more he or she is satisfied with it, says Kellyn Pearson, manager, practice support, at the American College of Physicians.

"Those people that adopted in 2012 had only been using their system for two years, so a large percentage of the respondents were in that category," Pearson told Healthleaders Media. "The longer people have used their system the more apt they are to be satisfied with it."

Technology, EHR/EMR adoption concerns, consistently contributes to physician engagement struggles, particularly in relation to clinical documentation improvement efforts, says Sharme Brodie, RN, CCDS, CDI education specialist for HCPro in Danvers, Massachusetts. Yet, CDI professionals can help keep physicians engaged by educating them on how to properly use the EHR/EMR to enhance their documentation.

CDI staff can collect feedback from physicians on what they like and don’t like about the EHR/EMR, and channel that information to appropriate team. Similarly, CDI specialists can help get physicians more closely involved in creating and improving the electronic record system, Brodie says.

An overwhelming number of physicians feel that there are too many hard stops and soft spots they have to answer; that there are way too many drop-down menus and check boxes, says Brodie. By giving physicians an opportunity to get involved, she says, CDI specialists hear from them directly regarding what they want and need from the EHR.

Editor’s Note: This article is based on “EHR Satisfaction Sinks Among Providers,” originally published by HealthLeaders Media, and “Physician documentation and engagement,” originally published in the CDI Journal.