@Article{info:doi/10.2196/19274, author="Tajirian, Tania and Stergiopoulos, Vicky and Strudwick, Gillian and Sequeira, Lydia and Sanches, Marcos and Kemp, Jessica and Ramamoorthi, Karishini and Zhang, Timothy and Jankowicz, Damian", title="The Influence of Electronic Health Record Use on Physician Burnout: Cross-Sectional Survey", journal="J Med Internet Res", year="2020", month="Jul", day="15", volume="22", number="7", pages="e19274", keywords="electronic health record; physician; burnout; psychiatry; medical informatics", abstract="Background: Physician burnout has a direct impact on the delivery of high-quality health care, with health information technology tools such as electronic health records (EHRs) adding to the burden of practice inefficiencies. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the extent of burnout among physicians and learners (residents and fellows); identify significant EHR-related contributors of physician burnout; and explore the differences between physicians and learners with regard to EHR-related factors such as time spent in EHR, documentation styles, proficiency, training, and perceived usefulness. In addition, the study aimed to address gaps in the EHR-related burnout research methodologies by determining physicians' patterns of EHR use through usage logs. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional survey methodology and a review of administrative data for back-end log measures of survey respondents' EHR use, which was conducted at a large Canadian academic mental health hospital. Chi-square and Fisher exact tests were used to examine the association of EHR-related factors with general physician burnout. The survey was sent out to 474 individuals between May and June 2019, including physicians (n=407), residents (n=53), and fellows (n=14), and we measured physician burnout and perceptions of EHR stressors (along with demographic and practice characteristics). Results: Our survey included 208 respondents, including physicians (n=176) and learners (n=32). The response rate was 43.2{\%} for physicians (full-time: 156/208, 75.0{\%}; part-time: 20/199, 10.1{\%}), and 48{\%} (32/67) for learners. A total of 25.6{\%} (45/176) of practicing physicians and 19{\%} (6/32) of learners reported having one or more symptoms of burnout, and 74.5{\%} (155/208) of all respondents who reported burnout symptoms identified the EHR as a contributor. Lower satisfaction and higher frustration with the EHRs were significantly associated with perceptions of EHR contributing toward burnout. Physicians' and learners' experiences with the EHR, gathered through open-ended survey responses, identified challenges around the intuitiveness and usability of the technology as well as workflow issues. Metrics gathered from back-end usage logs demonstrated a 13.6-min overestimation in time spent on EHRs per patient and a 5.63-hour overestimation of after-hours EHR time, when compared with self-reported survey data. Conclusions: This study suggests that the use of EHRs is a perceived contributor to physician burnout. There should be a focus on combating physician burnout by reducing the unnecessary administrative burdens of EHRs through efficient implementation of systems and effective postimplementation strategies. ", issn="1438-8871", doi="10.2196/19274", url="https://www.jmir.org/2020/7/e19274", url="https://doi.org/10.2196/19274", url="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32673234" }