Chart of the Week General

Telemedicine’s Pain Point: Extra Time in the EHR

Telemedicine and time spent in the EHR have both skyrocketed since pre-pandemic times

After the pandemic, the total time spent in EHRs rose to more than 10 hours per 8 patient-scheduled hours (PSHs); those EHR hours were split between time spent at work and after-hours.
More than 8 of those 10 extra hours were spent on documentation.
Time spent in EHRs (during and outside of PSHs) and time documenting in EHRs is linearly correlated with the proportion of encounters delivered through telemedicine.
Pre- to post-pandemic patient messaging increased: mean weekly messages received from patients rose from 17 to 30, and messages sent to patients soared from 14 to 30.

Holmgren AJ, Thombley R, Sinsky CA, Adler-Milstein J. Changes in Physician Electronic Health Record Use With the Expansion of Telemedicine. JAMA Intern Med. 2023;183:1357-1365.