Identification of Physicians and EHR User Types

Abstract

In recent years, the adoption and meaningful use of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) have undergone several promotions by governmental acts and incentive programs, with the promise of plenty of benefits. One of the most important objectives of EHR implementation was to make clinical providers to work more efficiently. However, previous studies have shown widespread dissatisfaction and low work efficiency among physicians due to rapid change of technologies and increasing requirements of EHR use. Based on a well-established model of EHR capabilities and physician EHR user, this study applied two strategies to identify different EHR user types among a large population of physicians from EpicCare Ambulatory Provider Efficiency Profile (PEP) dataset. The trends of physician work efficiency among three EHR user types identified – basic users, strivers, and arrivers – were consistent with our hypothesis that basic users have the highest work efficiency; strivers have relatively low efficiency; and arrivers have medium work efficiency but probably gain other benefits from EHR use. This identification work of physicians and EHR user types is useful for future work focusing on facilitating healthcare providers to move forward to more efficient EHR user stages and deliver better care for patients.