Electronic health record innovations: Helping physicians – One less click at a time:

Background:Physician burnout is becoming an epidemic, due to the pressures of being productive, an imperfect electronic health record (EHR) system, and limited face-to-face time with patients. Poor usability in EHR-user interface can force users to go through more steps (i.e. more clicks on the computer) in accomplishing a task.Objective:This increased ‘click burden’ is a source of frustration for physicians. In the light of increased click burden and time due to meaningful use requirements, there is a need to improve the physician’s experience by creating innovations in EHR.Method:This case study describes an attempt by physicians at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital to enhance the EHR experience with more efficient methods of documentation, chart review, ordering and patient safety.Results:The EHR innovations trialled in this study were: a mobile documentation application; abnormal test results auto-populated into an EHR patient summary; physician alerts to reduce inappropriate test order...