Measures of electronic health record use in outpatient settings across vendors. (19th November 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Baxter, Sally L; Apathy, Nate C; Cross, Dori A; Sinsky, Christine; Hribar, Michelle R
• Is Part Of: Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. Volume 28:Number 5(2021)
• Page Start: 955
• Page End: 959
• Publication Date: 2020-11-19
• Subjects: metric -- measure -- electronic health records -- audit log -- vendor -- burnout; Medical informatics -- Periodicals; Information Services -- Periodicals; Medical Informatics -- Periodicals; Médecine -- Informatique -- Périodiques; Informatica; Geneeskunde; Informatique médicale; Computer network resources; Electronic journals; 610.285
• DOI: 10.1093/jamia/ocaa266
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1067-5027

Abstract

Abstract: Electronic health record (EHR) log data capture clinical workflows and are a rich source of information to understand variation in practice patterns. Variation in how EHRs are used to document and support care delivery is associated with clinical and operational outcomes, including measures of provider well-being and burnout. Standardized measures that describe EHR use would facilitate generalizability and cross-institution, cross-vendor research. Here, we describe the current state of outpatient EHR use measures offered by various EHR vendors, guided by our prior conceptual work that proposed seven core measures to describe EHR use. We evaluate these measures and other reporting options provided by vendors for maturity and similarity to previously proposed standardized measures. Working toward improved standardization of EHR use measures can enable and accelerate high-impact research on physician burnout and job satisfaction as well as organizational efficiency and patient health.