EHR Usability Issues Increase After Implementation and Optimization

“Most believe EHR usability issues happen at implementation. However, the majority of EHR usability problems occur after implementation when the EHR is continuously optimized, according to a study published in the BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making.

“Implementation of the EHR is not limited to a single event in time,” wrote the researchers. “Rather, the technology changes when newer features are added, or interfaces are redesigned. These upgrades may improve functionality, but they also require physicians to adapt to changes beyond the initial implementation.”

“Users are required to continually learn how to use the newer system and then to incorporate these upgrades into their clinical workflow, often with negative work and psychological impacts,” continued the researchers. “Studies suggest that this type of continual change, such as that required by changes to the EHR, can result decreased productivity, increased stress and increased burnout.”

Using qualitative interviews with nine physicians a large academic medical center in the Midwest, the researchers confirmed that hypothesis.

Researchers asked the physicians four main questions regarding EHR adoption after implementation: impact of changes to the EHR, dealing with changes, factors that facilitate adaptation, and impact on patient care.

First, most respondents talked about the benefits that EHRs had on their documentation.

“It probably gets there faster,” said an anonymous physician. “In the old days, I used to dictate a letter. In the 1990s I had a Dictaphone. I would see a patient, I’d dictate a letter, and then it would be transcribed. Then I had to sign it, and it was sent out. That might take a week.”

Then, the physicians talked about adapting to EHR optimization and the impact that a positive attitude has on adaption.”

Read the entire article here

View all Articles by: Melissa Clark, CCS-P