Do electronic health record systems "dumb down" clinicians?

Genevieve B. Melton; James J. Cimino; Christoph U. Lehmann; Patricia R. Sengstack; Joshua C. Smith; William M. Tierney; Randolph A. Miller

doi:10.1093/jamia/ocac163

Do electronic health record systems "dumb down" clinicians?

Genevieve B. Melton, James J. Cimino, Christoph U. Lehmann, Patricia R. Sengstack, Joshua C. Smith, William M. Tierney, Randolph A. Miller

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

A panel sponsored by the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI) at the 2021 AMIA Symposium addressed the provocative question: "Are Electronic Health Records dumbing down clinicians?"After reviewing electronic health record (EHR) development and evolution, the panel discussed how EHR use can impair care delivery. Both suboptimal functionality during EHR use and longer-Term effects outside of EHR use can reduce clinicians' efficiencies, reasoning abilities, and knowledge. Panel members explored potential solutions to problems discussed. Progress will require significant engagement from clinician-users, educators, health systems, commercial vendors, regulators, and policy makers. Future EHR systems must become more user-focused and scalable and enable providers to work smarter to deliver improved care.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	172-177
Number of pages	6
Journal	Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association
Volume	30
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocac163
State	Published - Jan 1 2023

Keywords

HITECH act (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act)
burnout
burnout
cognition
documentation
electronic health records
professional
psychological

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Health Informatics

Access to Document

10.1093/jamia/ocac163

Cite this

@article{c9ca1f016b294dfda72107d19af46b35,

title = "Do electronic health record systems {"}dumb down{"} clinicians?",

abstract = "A panel sponsored by the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI) at the 2021 AMIA Symposium addressed the provocative question: {"}Are Electronic Health Records dumbing down clinicians?{"}After reviewing electronic health record (EHR) development and evolution, the panel discussed how EHR use can impair care delivery. Both suboptimal functionality during EHR use and longer-Term effects outside of EHR use can reduce clinicians' efficiencies, reasoning abilities, and knowledge. Panel members explored potential solutions to problems discussed. Progress will require significant engagement from clinician-users, educators, health systems, commercial vendors, regulators, and policy makers. Future EHR systems must become more user-focused and scalable and enable providers to work smarter to deliver improved care.",

keywords = "HITECH act (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act), burnout, burnout, cognition, documentation, electronic health records, professional, psychological",

author = "Melton, {Genevieve B.} and Cimino, {James J.} and Lehmann, {Christoph U.} and Sengstack, {Patricia R.} and Smith, {Joshua C.} and Tierney, {William M.} and Miller, {Randolph A.}",

year = "2023",

month = jan,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1093/jamia/ocac163",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "30",

pages = "172--177",

journal = "Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association",

issn = "1067-5027",