EHR enables physicians to establish effective connections with the patients, while also easing their burden of data entry.

With the increased digitization of literally every aspect of the medical field, Electronic Health Records (EHRs) have scored significant attention in recent times. In due regard, increasing adoption of EHR has pre-eminently coincided with increased emphasis on patient satisfaction. Patient-focused care has become the most vital component of quality healthcare today and EHRs have registered as a breakthrough innovation in the medical field. This implementation of EHRs has equipped the healthcare providers with the ability to deliver a higher quality of patient care as well as organizational efficiencies which collectively lead to increased patient satisfaction.

EHR is playing an increasingly beneficial role in terms of facilitating physicians in making meaningful connections with their patients. Offering patient-centric care is perhaps the most widely cited merit of EHR. However, physicians are faced with a range of challenges in terms of implementation and optimization of EHR.

For instance, EHR has the default potential of causing barriers in terms of adaptation. While the physicians are better equipped in terms of accurate and up-to-date patient data using EHR, they feel disconnected from their patients. According to Johnny Dias, DO, an internist with the Medical Group of the Carolinas in Spartanburg, South Carolina, “By starting to type in the computer, you can feel the disengagement from the patient.”

Similarly, physicians suffer significant concerns in terms of meeting payer documentation requirements which essentially mandate them to rely too much on the computer during exams. Jack Ende, MD, MACP, an internist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and former president of the American College of Physicians is of the view that today’s age requires over-documentation so that physicians can prove that they have done things and get paid for them. This ultimately causes more problems, Ende says.

Read More: 5-Steps Checklist For A Successful EHR Implementation

Nevertheless, despite the fact that striking a balance between successful patient encounters and thorough documentation may be difficult, it’s not something impossible. Substantial pre-planning, well-equipped support staff, state-of-the-art software, and physician’s style of conducting visits, all collectively make the entire process convenient and successfully possible.

How Physicians Take Lead

With increased sophistication in technology, physicians are today better able to control the dynamics of healthcare. While they become increasingly absorbed in their electronic devices, establishing direct eye contact with the patients then creates an inviting and engaging environment for the patient, which eases them. According to a study conducted in 2015 in the International Journal of Medical Informatics, eye movements of physicians and patients were tracked and studied to control patient gaze and eye contact followed cues from the physician.

Hence, the physicians must necessarily adapt and learn effective ways to manage their EHR during patient visits. For instance, they might want to avoid typing during patient examinations and instead prefer jotting down important notes while focusing more on the patient. Ende, for instance, states, “I will take a history for a new patient the old-fashioned way: with a pad of paper on my lap, making good eye contact and being able to appreciate the patient’s body language.” He further suggests that he typically dictates the narrative portion of the patient notes to a staff member who then enters relevant information into the EHR, while Ende himself enters lab orders, billing information, and other such data into the computer himself. However, he does acknowledge that this is a rare method of maintaining EHR in today’s busy work environment, but he still thinks this is the best strategy and works well for him.

Experience of solo practices is rather different. Melissa Lucarelli, MD, a solo family physician in Randolph, Wisconsin discusses that she thoroughly studies patient’s medical history and relevant data before entering the exam room so that she is well versed with the basic knowledge for effective patient conversation. This way she avoids relying on the computer while examining the patient. She then copy-and-pastes patient history information into the EHR to get a head start on the note before the patient encounters and is also able to maintain effective eye contact with the patient in the exam room. “Ideally, your EHR would become invisible, but what I’ve set for myself as the sort of gold standard for the computer in the room, is to make it as unobtrusive as a paper chart.”

Read More: All You Need to Know About EHR Replacements

Such an intervention strategy helps the physician focus on the patient and facilitates him to connect well. Studying patient history before-hand, including any preventive care screenings that might be needed, enhances the efficiency of physician diagnosis and treatment. Sometimes they are even able to identify any important lab tests that are likely for the given patient.

EHR, Patient Engagement & Satisfaction

EHR is well acclaimed for its potential to increase patient engagement. According to the study cited at the beginning of the article, the patient’s gaze usually follows the physicians when they look at the computer. This moment is fundamentally labeled as the “shared artifact” which is the best moment to gain the patient’s attention. Next, you can either gain the patient’s trust to totally miss the opportunity, it’s literally your call.

Interestingly, when the physicians share visual information from the EHR monitor, it significantly improves patient engagement in the decision-making process while also enhancing patient satisfaction. Using data charts, for instance, to demonstrate trends and patterns for discrete and trackable data, such as weight or hemoglobin levels, further aids in patient engagement. The physicians no longer need to flip back and forth paper prints to identify trends. Now they can use technology to examine trends for up to one year and even beyond – thanks to EHR.

It is just a matter of leveraging technology for patient involvement and satisfaction. The availability of the right data at the right place has been the most prominent feature of EHR, which is why it is widely acknowledged for facilitating patient-centric care delivery.

Read More: Avoid Unnecessary Costs When Switching EHR

While physicians scramble to keep abreast with the progressive field of medicine as well as to meet the ambitious patient data exchange thresholds, EHRs have emerged as a viable physician-patient communication tool, focusing on patient care through the improved flow of clinical data and better care coordination. Equipped with immense power to increase patient satisfaction while also encouraging medical compliance and adherence to patient care plans, EHRs have added significant value to patient care, thereby, prominently improving patient engagement as well as patient satisfaction.