Most practicing physicians say they would be more responsive to clinical documentation improvement measures if they were delivered real-time through their documentation systems in electronic health records, according to a study conducted by Nuance Communications.
Nuance surveyed more than 187 practicing physicians in midsize or large practices and hospitals to gauge their attitudes toward clinical documentation technology and processes. Here are four of the study's key findings.
1. Of the physicians surveyed, only 2 percent said post-discharge coding queries were not very disruptive. All physicians felt time spent going back and responding to a coding issue was time lost, and all of them expect the transition to ICD-10 to make the situation worse.
2. Most physicians (77 percent) said it was very important or extremely important for them to be involved in evaluating new technologies for clinical documentation. Many expressed concern they would be pushed out of the process by the finance and health information management departments.
3. Despite their desire for involvement, only 66 percent said they or other physicians in their organization had been involved in evaluating or implementing new clinical documentation technologies.
4. Eighty-eight percent of physicians surveyed said they were willing to invest time, see fewer patients and earn less money for six to nine months to be deeply involved in clinical technology evaluations and implementations.
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