Which clinicians spend the most time in the EHR? 3 things to know

By Jackie Drees from Becker’s Hospital Review

Primary care clinicians on average spend the most time using EHRs compared to medical and surgical specialists, according to a study published March 22 inJAMA Internal Medicine.

Researchers from Boston-based Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston-based Harvard Medical School and Stanford (Calif.) University School of Medicine collaborated on the study. For the analysis, the researchers compared total and after-hours EHR use among 351 U.S. ambulatory healthcare organizations that used an Epic EHR between January and August 2019.

Three study findings:

1. The average active daily time spent in the EHR was 115 minutes for primary care clinicians, 85.7 minutes for medical specialists and 45.6 minutes for surgical specialists.
2. The average active daily after-hours time was 29.8 minutes for primary care clinicians, 26.2 minutes for medical specialists and 16 minutes for surgical specialists.
3. For average time spent on daily notes, primary care clinicians spent the most at 51.5 minutes, followed by medical specialties at 40.8 minutes and surgical specialties at 22 minutes.