Post date: Nov 3, 2011 8:34:41 AM
A study by Dr. Bhargava (2011) at UC Davis was the focus of several articles at the end of 2010:
EHRs have varying effects on productivity: UC Davis study and EMR not boosting productivity? It could be a mismatch between system and specialty. The study concluded that specialty made a difference which makes sense that the inherent processes in an EMR can’t be completely generic but reflect some model of work.
His office just sent me the SSRN link to their EMR and Physician Productivity study.
When there is a fit, productivity does seem to increase after six months (Cheriff et al. 2010). In addition to EHR fit, one should also look at the related literature. Reardon and Davidson (2007) point to the learning capacity especially in small physician practices. Productivity is important because patients have more confidence in their physician the more time is spent (Wood et al. 2009).
Bhargava, HK & Mishra, A 2011, Electronic Medical Records and Physician Productivity: Evidence from Panel Data Analysis, <http://ssrn.com/abstract=1952287>.
Cheriff, AD, Kapur, AG, Qiu, M & Cole, CL 2010, 'Physician Productivity and the Ambulatory Ehr in a Large Academic Multi-Specialty Physician Group', International Journal of Medical Informatics, Vol. 79, no. 7, pp. 492-500.
Reardon, JL & Davidson, E 2007, 'An Organizational Learning Perspective on the Assimilation of Electronic Medical Records among Small Physician Practices', European Journal of Information Systems, Vol. 16, no. 6, pp. 681–94.
Wood, GC, Spahr, R, Gerdes, J, Daar, ZS, Hutchison, R & Stewart, WF 2009, 'Patient Satisfaction and Physician Productivity: Complementary or Mutually Exclusive?' American Journal of Medical Quality, Vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 498-504.