Researchers found that physicians spent 5.9 hours of an 11.4-hour workday in the EHR.
Primary care physicians spend more than half of their workday interacting with EHRs during and after clinic hours, according to research in the Annals of Family Medicine.
The study, Tethered to the EHR: Primary Care Physician Workload Assessment Using EHR Event Log Data and Time-Motion Observations, from the University of Wisconsin and the AMA, is based on data from EHR event logs and confirmed by direct observation data.
Researchers found that physicians spent 355 minutes (5.9 hours) of an 11.4-hour workday in the EHR, including 269 minutes (4.5 hours) during clinic hours and 86 minutes (1.4 hours) after hours.
Almost half of their total EHR time per day (44%) was devoted to clerical tasks, and an additional 84 minutes per day (24%) was spent managing the inbox.
Time spent on EHR activities differed by time of day on weekdays and weekends, with weekend EHR work peaking around 10:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.
They also found that documentation took 84 minutes and order entry took 43 minutes. The authors note that an increased EHR workload can contribute to physician burnout.