Researchers from Birmingham Women's Hospital in the
The researchers found physicians spend approximately 56 percent of ward round time filling out paperwork, but this could be reduced to 41 percent if physicians made use of technology.
The researchers had physicians from Birmingham Women's Hospital's neonatal unit use an electronic system that required physicians to use tablets or laptops instead of filling out forms on paper for 7 months.
Before the electronic system was introduced, rounds on the intensive care and high dependency wards took almost 5 hours. The researchers found the same rounds took 4 hours after the electronic system was put in place.
The study also found the electronic system helped physicians overcome the issue of reading other physicians' illegible handwriting. With the traditional paperwork system, only 68 percent of medical notes were legible. The electronic system eliminated the handwriting problem, making 100 percent of medical notes legible, according to the study.
More Articles on Health IT:
Study: 6 Key Dimensions for Evaluating Telehealth Programs
Readmission-Prediction Software Not Ready to Replace Manual Review, Study Finds
7 Recent Stories on the Health IT Market