Depending on the EHR system physicians use, they can spend significant time clicking on their computer screen, 62 clicks specifically just to order Tylenol, according to Fox News.
For physicians working a full shift in the emergency room, more than 4,000 clicks are required throughout the day. With all that clicking, comes mistakes.
Retiring FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb last week highlighted the risks patients face from poorly designed EHRs. He cited babies dying because medications were ordered incorrectly and patients being given false diagnoses all because scans were sent to wrong files.
The blame game then becomes muddled. Is the physician at fault or the system?
"It's not the that we're a bunch of Luddites who don't know how to use technology," an ER physician told Kaiser Health News, according to Fox News.
Former President Barack Obama in 2009 created the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, requiring all medical records to be stored electronically within five years.
The law sent many health technology companies off and running with ideas on creating new EHRs. It also left physicians scrambling to learn new systems with little training.