Do Physicians in Ambulatory Care Spend More Time with the EMR Than with Patients?

Outpatient practices have weathered substantial changes during the past decade, and these changes have placed new demands on physicians' time. In this study, researchers directly observed 57 physicians in 16 primary care or specialty outpatient practices (family medicine, internal medicine, cardiology, and orthopedics); time spent on various activities during the clinical day was documented. In addition, 21 physicians also kept after-hours diaries. Fifteen practices mandated use of electronic medical record (EMR) systems. Trained observers recorded the time each physician spent on various activities.

Physicians spent 33% of their total time on direct clinical interactions (27% with patients and 6% with clinical staff when patients were not p…