EHR Use Negatively Impacts Patient-Provider Relationship

A recent study by Pelland et al. found that while EHR use may reduce medical errors, the technology is also shown to complicate the patient-provider relationship. Researchers at Brown University performed a qualitative analysis of comments submitted to a 2014 Rhode Island Health Information Technology survey to gain insight into physicians’ personal experiences with EHR systems.

Both office- and hospital-based physicians in Rhode Island submitted responses describing their perceptions of the impact of EHR technology on patient-physician interactions. Responses from hospital-based physicians were measured against the opinions of office-based physicians for contrast.

While both hospital-based physicians and office-based physicians voiced concerns regarding the effect of EHRs on patient-provider interactions, the two demographics cited different reasons for their frustrations.

“We noted the same five themes among office-based physicians, but the rank order of the top two responses differed by setting: hospital-based physicians commented most frequently that they spend less time with patients because they have to spend more time on computers; office-based physicians commented most frequently on EHRs worsening the quality of their interactions and relationships with patients,” wrote researchers…

Continue reading this article

View all Articles Mentioned by: Melissa Clark, CCS-P, RT