BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:

• Melnick et al. (Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 2019) sought to determine
  • Physician-perceived EHR usability (as defined by a standardized metric of technology usability)
  • The association between EHRs and physician burnout

METHODS:

• Cross-sectional survey (2017 to 2018)
  • American Medical Association Physician Masterfile
• Participants
  • US physicians from all specialty disciplines
• Study design
  • Physicians received an invitation to participate via electronic survey
  • A secondary survey was sent out with “intensive follow-up” to nonresponders to assess response bias  
• Data analysis
  • EHR usability assessed using the System Usability Scale (SUS; range 0-100)
  • SUS scores normalized to percentile rankings
  • Burnout was measured using the Maslach Burnout Inventory

RESULTS:

• 30,456 physicians were invited to take the survey
• 5,197 (17.1%) completion rate
• 870 (69.6%) completed usability subsurvey
• The physician-determined SUS score was categorized in the “not acceptable” range, with a grade of F
  • Mean ± SD SUS score: 45.9 ± 21.9 (bottom 9% when benchmarked against other industry SUS scores)
• Physician-rated EHR usability was independently associated with the odds of burnout
  • Each 1 point more favorable SUS score associated with a 3% lower odds of burnout
  • Odds ratio, 0.97 (95% CI, 0.97 to 0.98; P<0.001)
  • Finding was not altered by emotional exhaustion or other similar factors

CONCLUSION:

• The authors of this study concluded that there is a “strong dose-response relationship” between EHR usability and burnout
• In addition

The usability of current EHRs as assessed by US physicians using a standardized metric of technology usability is markedly lower than for most other technologies and falls into the grade category of F.

Learn More – Primary Sources:

The Association Between Perceived Electronic Health Record Usability and Professional Burnout Among US Physicians

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