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EHR Satisfaction Higher When Physicians Work in Physician-Owned Practices
Physicians who work in physician-owned practices are more likely than those in non–physician-owned practices to report satisfaction with their electronic health record (EHR) system, to perceive time spent on documentation as appropriate, and to have staff support for documentation. Researchers published their findings in JAMA Network Open.
“Differences in EHR satisfaction and perceptions of time spent on documentation also varied by specialty,” wrote corresponding author Lisa S. Rotenstein, MD, MBA, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, and coauthors. “Primary care physicians in physician-owned practices were significantly more likely to be satisfied with their EHR, whereas surgical specialists in physician-owned practices were more likely to perceive that time spent on documentation was appropriate and to have staff support for documentation.”
The cross-sectional study included 1368 physicians who provided office-based patient care in 2019 and responded to the 2019 National Electronic Health Records Survey. Among respondents, 68.5% were men, 74.1% were older than 50 years, 59.5% were working in a practice owned by a physician or physician group and 40.5% were working in a non–physician-owned practice, and 48.5% were primary care physicians.
Overall, 68.1% of physicians in physician-owned practices reported being satisfied with their EHR compared with 58.5% in non–physician-owned practices, according to the study. Perceptions that time spent on documentation was appropriate were expressed by 44.8% of physicians in physician-owned practices and 32.4% in non–physician-owned practices. Staff support for documentation was available to 36.0% in physician-owned practices compared with 26.7% in non–physician-owned practices.
Differences in physician perceptions of the appropriateness of time spent on documentation and availability of staff support for documentation only partially explained differences in practice ownership type and EHR satisfaction, the study showed.
“These findings suggest that while some differences in satisfaction are associated with physician-owned practices having resources to help with documentation and being able to experience the results of their documentation more concretely, it is likely that other cultural structure, practice structure, and EHR design choices play a substantial role in determining EHR satisfaction,” researchers wrote.
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