Another day in healthcare and another survey. The latest one by Deloitte aims to understand physicians' attitudes toward electronic health records and perceptions about the current market trends impacting medicine and future state of the practice of medicine.
The survey asked 600 primary care and specialty physicians about a range of topics, including Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), value-based payment models, consolidation and health information technology (HIT). The outcome in regard to perception of EHRs is still a bit shady.
Physicians believe EHRs are most useful for analytics and reporting capabilities compared to other attributes (such as supporting value-based care or improvements to clinical outcomes). This is an increase since the previous survey, in 2014. Today, 78 percent of physicians said they believe EHRs are useful for analytics and reporting capabilities, the top selection in 2016's survey; 68 percent of physicians found them useful for analytics and reporting in 2014.
However, the passion for the technology is certainly not on fire.
Need proof? The majority of physicians still hold relatively negative perspectives on some aspects of EHRs, similar to the 2014 survey. Big surprise, right? Specifically, 3 out of 4 physicians said they believe EHRs increase practice costs, outweighing any efficiency savings. And a full 70 percent of physicians said they feel EHRs reduce their productivity.
Additionally, physicians said they are less likely to think that EHR capabilities support clinical outcomes than they did in the 2014 survey. So, it appears that time and use of the technology has done little to persuade providers to feel better about using the healthcare solutions. To back that point, 47 percent of physicians said they believe EHRs improve clinical outcomes versus 55 percent of physicians just two years ago.
Dividing the results by working class bares out some interesting perspective worth noting: Physician satisfaction with EHRs varies by practice characteristics.
Deloitte points out that employed physicians — compared to independent physicians — are more likely to think EHRs support the exchange of clinical information. On the other hand, employed physicians — compared to independent physicians — also are less likely to think EHRs reduce productivity.
And here's the data's silver tuna: Although few physicians would stop using their current EHR system, nearly all physicians would like improvements. 3 out of 5 would keep the current EHR system they have and not replace it, but 57 percent said they want improved workflow and increased productivity, and 62 percent want more interoperability.
Finally, only 12 percent do not seek improvements to their current system. That actually somewhat of a larger number than might be expected, also good news.
Since 2011, the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions has surveyed a "nationally representative sample of U.S. physicians on their attitudes and perceptions about the current market trends impacting medicine and future state of the practice of medicine," the firm says. Accordingly, the national sample is representative of the American Medical Association file with respect to years in practice, gender, geography, practice type and specialty.
These numbers are always floating and changing, yet providing additional perspective. For example, according to EHR Intelligence, another survey from Adventist University of Health Sciences found that 92 percent of nurses are dissatisfied with EHR technology. In addition:
- 84 percent said EHRs disrupted their clinical workflows
- 85 percent said their tools consistently displayed flaws or glitches
- 90 percent said EHR use got in the way of their patient relationships
- 94 percent said the technology did not improve communication with physician partners
Tomorrow, there's a good chance we’ll see another survey, with different numbers and maybe with a different IT focus. This is healthcare after all — things are always changing.
