The percentage of healthcare clinicians who say they wouldn't recommend their electronic medical record system to a colleague has grown from 24% in 2010 to 51% in 2014.
Electronic health records systems are failing to live up to clinicians' expectations in terms of cost savings, efficiency, and productivity, and clinician satisfaction with EHRs/EMRs is on a southbound track.
That's according to a survey data gathered by AmericanEHR Partners in conjunction with the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, and American Academy of Family Physicians.
According to several years' worth of survey results, physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants are growing increasingly disenchanted with their EHR/EMR systems each year. The 2010 survey, for instance, shows that 39% of respondents were satisfied and 22% were very satisfied with their EHRs/EMRs, compared to 22% and 12%, respectively, in 2014.
The percentage of clinicians who say they wouldn't recommend their EHR product to a colleague has grown, from 24% in 2010 to 51% in 2014.
But digging into the survey results reveals nuances. Kellyn Pearson, manager, practice support, at the American College of Physicians, notes that the longer a clinician has been using an EHR/EMR, the more he or she is satisfied with it.
"Those people that adopted in 2012 had only been using their system for two years, so a large percentage of the respondents were in that category," she says. "The longer people have used their system the more apt they are to be satisfied with it."
Satisfaction Grows with Time
Although just 33% of respondents overall said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their systems, that number went up when it was analyzed by the number of years the system had been in use. Only 22% of people who had been using their system for less than a year said they were satisfied or very satisfied with it, compared to 50% who had been using it for five or more years.
"It takes a while to learn these systems," Pearson says. Plus, the Meaningful Use program keeps changing, making the learning curve even steeper.
"If people are part of the Meaningful Use program, what they're doing within their EHR/EMR is changing as well, because there's more requirements as time goes on," Pearson says. "I learn how to do this function, then there's a new one added, so I have to learn that one, and another one, and another."
But while some of the dissatisfaction can be explained by the novelty of the systems and the difficulty that comes with learning new technology, Pearson says the EHR/EMR "systems still need to be improved for their usability."
"I wouldn't say there are any numbers in here that show that anybody is overly thrilled with their system… It goes to show that these systems are in early development and still have a ways to go to meet all of the needs of their users," she says.
Indeed, a 50% satisfaction rate among users who've had their systems for five or more years is mediocre at best. Also, 54% of respondents found their EHR system increased their total operating costs.
"Even [among] with those who've used it a long time you're not seeing huge satisfaction with them, it's just that they're less dissatisfied," Pearson says.
She adds that EHR/EMR developers should work on easing clinicians' workloads and making documentation easier.
The survey showed that less than half (46%) of respondents said it was easy or very easy to document a progress note for each patient encounter. And that ease of use goes a long way toward satisfaction: 84% of those who were satisfied or very satisfied with their EHR said it was easy or very easy to document a progress note. Satisfaction with a system's billing function was also down overall, but billing function satisfaction is also linked to overall EHR/EMR satisfaction.
Justified Complaints
this should send a message to healthcare leaders and executives that all the "complaining and grumbling about having to use an EHR/EMR," is likely somewhat justified, Pearson says. Executives should also know that "satisfaction with their systems doesn't occur after six months or a year," she adds.
Despite the learning curve, though, the survey shows that the usability of the systems themselves still leave a lot to be desired.
"The overarching thought is that there's still a ways to go in the usability and making these fit within the workflow," Pearson says.
Alexandra Wilson Pecci is an editor for HealthLeaders.
