Family Physicians’ EHR Workload: Challenges And Solutions

Family Physicians’ EHR Workload: Challenges And Solutions

EHRs cause a lot of stress among family physicians. The main reason for this stress is the significant amount of time that these physicians spend on their EHRs. According to a study of family medicine physicians using Epic EHRs, physicians spend more than 2.5 hours daily on documentation and administrative duties, resulting in nearly 6 hours per day on the EHR, including 86 minutes after working hours. This is contributing to severe consequences among the family physician workforce – high burnout rates and physician shortages. In this blog post, we will explore several EHR challenges and effective solutions aimed at reducing family physicians’ EHR workload.

Challenge

Family physicians face documentation challenges at the point of care and after care hours.

Solution

1. Redesign patient visits to streamline documentation and improve workflow efficiency. This could include setting up the exam room and positioning your computer to minimize gaze shifts, conducting pre-visit planning and having a medical assistant or scribe to capture patient history and intake information.

2. Simplify your EHRs to reduce the number of clicks and time needed for documentation. This could include mastering its tools, using templates and macros, and integrating patient questionnaires to reduce documentation time and enhance efficiency.

3. Use new E/M coding guidelines to simplify and minimize the documentation needed for reimbursement purposes.

Challenge

PCPs spend nearly an hour each day managing their inboxes. On average, primary care physicians receive 77 inbox notifications a day, while other specialists receive 29. Though communication is vital in healthcare, many messages are repetitive in nature, unnecessary, or could be handled by other team members.

Solution

Using a team-based approach to optimize inbox management practices by routing specific messages to other team members, can reduce the number of notifications for physicians. Another approach is to streamline time-consuming recurring tasks.

Challenge

Family physicians spend over 2.5 hours daily on documentation and administrative tasks, totaling nearly 6 hours on EHR use.

Solution

As administrative work is the number one contributor to physician burnout, having sufficient support staff, such as scribes and medical assistants can ease the burden. Scribes reduce family physicians’ EHR workload and allow them to focus on caring for patients. By taking over the documentation responsibilities scribes have been found to boost physician productivity, efficiency, and satisfaction in family practices without impacting patient experience. Studies also show that scribes reduce the time taken to close patient visits and increase the likelihood of physicians reviewing medication lists.

Family physicians’ EHR workload poses a significant challenge contributing to burnout and workforce shortages. Implementing solutions such as team-based inbox management, redesigned patient visits, and simplified EHR systems can alleviate some of this burden. However, using scribes stands out as one of the most effective strategies. Scribes can significantly reduce the time physicians spend on documentation and administrative tasks, allowing them to dedicate more attention to patient care. If you're looking to enhance your practice's efficiency and reduce physician burnout, consider hiring a family medicine scribe from scribe4Me today. To learn more on how our scribes can help your family practice email us at [email protected]