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NewsFamily Medicine UpdatesF

ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS: HOW WILL STUDENTS LEARN IF THEY CAN’T PRACTICE?

Christine Matson, Mark Stephens, Beat Steiner and Stanley M Kozakowski
The Annals of Family Medicine November 2014, 12 (6) 582-583; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.1716
Christine Matson
Chair, Association of Departments of Family Medicine’s (ADFM) Education Transformation Committee
MD
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Mark Stephens
Chair, Department of Family Medicine, Uniformed Services University and Member, ADFM Education Transformation Committee
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Beat Steiner
Chair, Society of Teachers of Family Medicine’s Medical Student Education Committee
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Stanley M Kozakowski
Director, Division of Medical Education, American Academy of Family Physicians and Ardis Davis, MSW, ADFM Executive Director
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Electronic health records (EHR) are becoming ubiquitous, with 78% of office-based physicians reporting use of an EHR in 2013.1 EHR systems have the potential to enhance quality and safety, but there is a risk that medical students are entering residencies without adequate preparation to fully and effectively use this important instrument. Future physicians must learn skills to enhance relationships while using the EHR in modern clinical practices, avoiding barriers such as ‘continuous partial attention’ and minimizing the patient in favor of the ‘third person in the room.’2–6 Learning how to elicit medical histories while electronically recording key findings, using EHR-associated decision-making tools and providing management plans requires full EHR access.5 Using the registry and analytic functions of EHRs is important for developing skills in population health management. Future physicians must also become familiar with safety reminders and point of care references to provide efficient and effective care. Unfortunately, students at many medical schools are not able to adequately access EHRs to receive this necessary training.

Surveys regarding student use of EHR7,8 show broad institutional variation. Most differences are the result of varying local interpretations of Medicare guidelines on student EHR use.9 The most significant barriers to medical students’ access to the EHR include concerns regarding attribution of note ownership, billing elements, patient safety issues, and breaches of professionalism associated with use of the copy and paste function.8 Increasingly, students are training in a variety of ambulatory practice settings with voluntary faculty, where the cost of additional EHR licenses for students can also be a barrier.

The Association of American Medical Colleges’ (AAMC) updated Compliance Advisory released September 30, 2014 attempts to delineate the distinction between the medical students’ documentation in the medical record and the fact that they are not billing providers.12 Interpretation by academic health centers across the country of AAMC’s 2012 Compliance Advisory, however, has resulted in markedly disparate policies around the country regarding medical student access to EHRs.9 Thus, students in some academic health centers are “forbidden any access”, “marginalized [in their] role of medical student”, and “hindered [in the] team function of care”.11

The negative impact of such restrictive policies on student education and team-based care are potentially profound, posing barriers to achievement of 11 of 13 Core Entrustable Professional Activities for Entering Residency described by the AAMC.12

To fully prepare medical school graduates to assume roles of increasing responsibility and leadership in modern health care systems requires competence in patient-centered EHR use. For this to happen, all medical students should have access to the EHR that is based on educational need13 as opposed to risk aversion. We are confident that this can be done in a way which enhances education without compromising patient safety or third party regulatory requirements. We support the recommendations of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine as a first step toward remedying current disparities in opportunities for EHR access for medical students. We look forward to collaborating with the AAMC on publicizing ways in which institutions can enable students to use electronic health records for educational and patient care benefit while still providing capability for physicians exclusively to document for billing purposes. To consider patient-centered EHR use as an Entrustable Professional Activity under appropriate supervision is in the best interest of learners and patients alike.

Footnotes

  • ↵* The opinions are those of the author. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of the Navy, the Uniformed Services University or the Department of Defense.

  • © 2014 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.

References

  1. ↵
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). National Center for Health Statistics Brief (January 2014). Use and Characteristics of Electronic Health Record Systems Among Office-based Physician Practices: United States, 2001–2013. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db143.htm. Accessed September 3, 2014.
  2. ↵
    1. Stone L
    . Continuous partial attention. Linda Stone blog. 1998. http://lindastone.net/qa/continuous-partial-attention/. Accessed August 29, 2014.
    1. Wald HS,
    2. George P,
    3. Reis SP,
    4. Taylor JS
    . EHR training in graduate medical education: Linking theory to practice and empowering patient- and relationship-centered care. Acad Med. 2014;89(3):380–386.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
    1. Silverman H,
    2. Ho YX,
    3. Kaib S,
    4. et al
    . A novel approach to supporting relationship-centered care through electronic health record ergonomic training in preclerkship medical education. [Epub ahead of print]. Acad Med. 2014;89(9):1230–1234.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  3. ↵
    1. Duke P,
    2. Frankel RM,
    3. Reis S
    . How to integrate EHR and Patient-centered Communication into the medical visit – a skills-based approach. Teach Learn Med. 2013;25(4):358–365.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  4. ↵
    1. Britton B,
    2. Matson CC
    . A longitudinal curriculum in EHR for medical students. Presented at STFM annual conference, 2011. New Orleans, Louisiana. http://www.fmdrl.org/index.cfm?event=c.getAttachment&riid=5197.
  5. ↵
    1. Friedman E,
    2. Sainte M,
    3. Fallar R
    . Taking note of the perceived value and impact of medical student chart documentation on education and patient care. Acad Med. 2010;85(9):1440–1444.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  6. ↵
    1. Heiman HL,
    2. Rasminsky S,
    3. Bierman JA,
    4. et al
    . Medical students’ observations, practices, and attitudes regarding electronic health record documentation. Teach Learn Med. 2014;26(1):49–55.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  7. ↵
    Report of variations in medical students’ access to EHR by institution and EHR type. Dr Beat Steiner, personal communication.
  8. AAMC Compliance Officer’s Forum (re: students and EHR) 2012. http://www.aamc.org/download/253810/dara/medicalstudentdocu-mentationinanehr.pdf.
  9. ↵
    Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM). Student use of electronic health records. http://www.stfm.org/resources/EHR.
  10. ↵
    Association of American Medical Colleges’ (AAMC) Core Entrustable Professional Activities for Entering Residency. https://www.meded-portal.org/icollaborative/resource/887. Accessed Sep 4, 2014.
  11. ↵
    1. Stephens MB,
    2. Gimbel RW,
    3. Pangaro L
    . Commentary: The RIME/EMR scheme: an educational approach to clinical documentation in electronic medical records. Acad Med. 2011;86(1):11–14.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
    1. Hammoud MM,
    2. Dalymple JL,
    3. Christner JG,
    4. et al
    . Medical student documentation in electronic health records: a collaborative statement from the Alliance for Clinical Education. Teach Learn Med. 2012;24(3):257–266.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
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The Annals of Family Medicine: 12 (6)
The Annals of Family Medicine: 12 (6)
Vol. 12, Issue 6
November/December 2014
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ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS: HOW WILL STUDENTS LEARN IF THEY CAN’T PRACTICE?
Christine Matson, Mark Stephens, Beat Steiner, Stanley M Kozakowski
The Annals of Family Medicine Nov 2014, 12 (6) 582-583; DOI: 10.1370/afm.1716

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ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS: HOW WILL STUDENTS LEARN IF THEY CAN’T PRACTICE?
Christine Matson, Mark Stephens, Beat Steiner, Stanley M Kozakowski
The Annals of Family Medicine Nov 2014, 12 (6) 582-583; DOI: 10.1370/afm.1716
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