RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Quantifying Volume and Disparities in Electronic Workload
JF The Annals of Family Medicine
JO Ann Fam Med
FD American Academy of Family Physicians
SP 6051
DO 10.1370/afm.22.s1.6051
VO 22
IS Supplement 1
A1 Cozine, Elizabeth
A1 Pham, Van
A1 Ziegelbauer, Lorelle
A1 Poe, Justin
A1 Huschka, Todd
A1 Theofiles, Meghan
YR 2024
UL http://www.annfammed.org/content/22/Supplement_1/6051.abstract
AB Context: Electronic health records (EHR) and patient portal systems have resulted in an unrestricted, undefined, and often uncompensated workload for Primary Care providers. Little information exists regarding the volume of work due to electronic portal messaging and if disparities exist among gender, race, age, and specialty of the provider. Objective: Quantify portal messaging patterns across the Rochester, MN Primary Care practices in 2022. Quantify distribution of uncompensated workload based on provider characteristics/demographics. Characterize the impact of uncompensated workload on burnout.Study Design and Analysis: Observational study (cross-sectional survey) and retrospective electronic chart analysis to quantify electronic workload volume and to establish a relationship to a provider’s demographics.Setting: Outpatient primary care practice at 4 clinic sitesPopulation Studied: Primary care providers (physicians and advance practice providers)Intervention/Instrument: Cross-sectional survey and retrospective EHR analysisOutcome Measures: Retrospective EHR analysis and internal data provided data on volumes and types of messages, patient panel characteristics, time spent on EHR tasks. Provider survey data was linked to internal data, de-identified, and analyzed using general linear model and logistic regression model.Results: 192 surveys sent; 67% response rate. Analyzed demographic differences, patient panel characteristics, burden (objective and subjective), in-basket task workload, and total time outside scheduled work hours. Comparisons of means across race, gender, and age for the primary variables of interest showed little statistical differences. Differences were found in burnout rates with increased rates in those with reduced FTE. Women were 3.8 to 4.9 times (95% CI 1.5-15.1) more likely to have reduced FTE.Conclusions: Providers with reduced FTE do not have a statistically significant reduction in direct patient care, but remaining work time has more direct patient care than does that of those with reduced FTE. Those with reduced FTE have higher burnout rates. In-basket tasks per month most strongly correlates to size of patient panel.