Documenting the Burden of Medical Documentation

Physicians commonly perceive medical documentation as burdensome. In this study, researchers analyzed data from a nationally representative survey of U.S. office-based physicians regarding medical documentation and the electronic health record (EHR).

Of the 1524 respondents (79% aged ≥50; 70% men), 64% were satisfied with the EHR and found documentation to be easy. However, 58% thought the time spent documenting was inappropriate and reduced time with patients, and 85% thought documentation for billing purposes increased documentation time. Results did not differ by specialty. The researchers estimated that physicians spent 1.8 hours daily outside of office hours completing documentation. Physicians who used EHRs and those who participated i…