Physicians like EHRs in theory, according to a recent RAND report. They believe electronic records will improve access to necessary patient information, thereby improving care, and have hope technological improvements will facilitate more efficient data exchange and clinician workflows.
However, EHRs in their current iteration are having a negative effect on physicians' job satisfaction, the report found. Based on a survey of physicians from 22 practices, RAND researchers found physicians see EHRs now as frustrating to use, time-consuming and an interference to the patient-physician relationship. They also are disappointed at the lack of interoperability between EHR systems and think EHRs are detrimental to the quality of clinical notes.
The RAND report found the level of satisfaction with an EHR to be an independent predictor of physicians' overall job satisfaction. According to the survey, just 35 percent of physicians said their EHRs have a positive effect on their job satisfaction. Additionally, the report found the more complex an EHR system is, the lower the general physician professional satisfaction.
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