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  • 2013
  • Article
  • American Journal of Managed Care

The Impact of Electronic Health Record Use on Physician Productivity

By: Julia Adler-Milstein and Robert S. Huckman
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Abstract

To examine the impact of the degree of electronic health record (EHR) use and delegation of EHR tasks on clinician productivity in ambulatory settings.
Study Design: We examined EHR use in primary care practices that implemented a web-based EHR from athenahealth (n = 42) over 3 years (695 practice-month observations). Practices were predominantly small and spread throughout the country. Data came from the athenahealth practice management system and EHR task logs.
Methods: We developed monthly measures of EHR use and delegation to support staff from task logs. Productivity was measured using work relative value units (RVUs). Using fixed effects models, we assessed the independent impacts on productivity of EHR use and delegation. We then explored the interaction between these 2 strategies and the role of practice size.
Results: Greater EHR use and greater delegation were independently associated with higher levels of productivity. An increase in EHR use of 1 standard deviation resulted in a 5.3% increase in RVUs per clinician workday; an increase in delegation of EHR tasks of 1 standard deviation resulted in an 11.0% increase in RVUs per clinician workday (P <.05 for both). Further, EHR use and delegation had a positive joint impact on productivity in large practices (coefficient, 0.058; P <.05), but a negative joint impact on productivity in small practices (coefficient, –0.142; P <.01).
Conclusions: Clinicians in practices that increased EHR use and delegated EHR tasks were more productive, but practice size determined whether the 2 strategies were complements or substitutes.

Keywords

Electronic Health Records; Health Care; Productivity; Healthcare IT; Information Technology; Performance Productivity; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

Citation

Adler-Milstein, Julia, and Robert S. Huckman. "The Impact of Electronic Health Record Use on Physician Productivity." Special Issue on Health Information Technology. American Journal of Managed Care 19, no. SP10 (2013): SP345–SP352.
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About The Author

Robert S. Huckman

Technology and Operations Management
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More from the Authors
  • The Brigham and Women’s Hospital Innovation Hub: Driving Internal Innovation By: Ariel Dora Stern, Robert S. Huckman and Sarah Mehta
  • Investigating the Association Between Telemedicine Use and Timely Follow-Up Care After Acute Cardiovascular Hospital Encounters By: Mitchell Tang, A Jay Holmgren, Erin E. McElrath, Ankeet S. Bhatt, Anubodh S. Varshney, Simin Gharib Lee, Muthiah Vaduganathan, Dale S. Adler and Robert S. Huckman
  • How Will Amazon Approach U.S. Primary Care? By: Robert S. Huckman and Bradley Staats
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