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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Appl Clin Inform 2022; 13(04): 857-864
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1756422
Research Article

Quantifying the Electronic Health Record Burden in Head and Neck Cancer Care

Tom Ebbers
1   Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
,
Rudolf B. Kool
2   IQ Healthcare, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
,
Ludi E. Smeele
3   Department of Head and Neck Oncology and Surgery, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
,
Robert P. Takes
1   Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
,
Guido B. van den Broek
1   Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
,
Richard Dirven
3   Department of Head and Neck Oncology and Surgery, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
› Author Affiliations Funding None.
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Abstract

Background Although the main task of health care providers is to provide patient care, studies show that increasing amounts of time are spent on documentation.

Objective To quantify the time and effort spent on the electronic health record (EHR) in head and neck cancer care.

Methods Cross-sectional time–motion study. Primary outcomes were the percentages of time spent on the EHR and the three main tasks (chart review, input, placing orders), number of mouse events, and keystrokes per consultation. Secondary outcome measures were perceptions of health care providers regarding EHR documentation and satisfaction.

Results In total, 44.0% of initial oncological consultation (IOC) duration and 30.7% of follow-up consultation (FUC) duration are spent on EHR tasks. During 80.0% of an IOC and 67.9% of a FUC, the patient and provider were actively communicating. Providers required 593 mouse events and 1,664 keystrokes per IOC and 140 mouse events and 597 keystrokes per FUC, indicating almost 13 mouse clicks and close to 40 keystrokes for every minute of consultation time. Less than a quarter of providers indicated that there is enough time for documentation.

Conclusion This study quantifies the widespread concern of high documentation burden for health care providers in oncology, which has been related to burnout and a decrease of patient–clinician interaction. Despite excessive time and effort spent on the EHR, health care providers still felt this was insufficient for proper documentation. However, the need for accurate and complete documentation is high, as reuse of information becomes increasingly important. The challenge is to decrease the documentation burden while increasing the quality of EHR data.

Keywords

electronic health records - documentation burden - oncology - physician - interfaces - usability

Data Availability Statement

Data are available upon reasonable request.


Protection of Human and Animal Subjects

The study was performed in compliance with the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki on Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects, and was reviewed by the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Cancer Center local ethics committee (IRBd19–312).


Supplementary Material



Publication History

Received: 18 May 2022

Accepted: 21 July 2022

Article published online:
14 September 2022

© 2022. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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