Electronic health records and support for primary care teamwork

Objective Consensus that enhanced teamwork is necessary for efficient and effective primary care delivery is growing. We sought to identify how electronic health records (EHRs) facilitate and pose challenges to primary care teams as well as how practices are overcoming these challenges.Methods Practices in this qualitative study were selected from those recognized as patient-centered medical homes via the National Committee for Quality Assurance 2011 tool, which included a section on practice teamwork. We interviewed 63 respondents, ranging from physicians to front-desk staff, from 27 primary care practices ranging in size, type, geography, and population size.Results EHRs were found to facilitate communication and task delegation in primary care teams through instant messaging, task management software, and the ability to create evidence-based templates for symptom-specific data collection from patients by medical assistants and nurses (which can offload work from physicians). Areas where respondents felt that electronic medical record EHR functionalities were weakest and posed challenges to teamwork included the lack of integrated care manager software and care plans in EHRs, poor practice registry functionality and interoperability, and inadequate ease of tracking patient data in the EHR over time.Discussion Practices developed solutions for some of the challenges they faced when attempting to use EHRs to support teamwork but wanted more permanent vendor and policy solutions for other challenges.Conclusions EHR vendors in the United States need to work alongside practicing primary care teams to create more clinically useful EHRs that support dynamic care plans, integrated care management software, more functional and interoperable practice registries, and greater ease of data tracking over time.     

电子病历与医疗质量管理实践

电子病历作为公立医院改革试点工作的重要内容是医疗信息化发展的阶段性标志,对于改善医疗服务、提升医疗质量、优化质量管理均有着十分重要的意义.江苏大学附属宜兴医院通过基于电子病历平台就医疗资源管理调配、临床路径管理、运行病历质控管理、医院感染管理、出院患者随访管理、医师手术权限管理等方面进行了医院运行质量管理实践,取得了一...     

Assessing hospital electronic health record vendor performance across publicly reported quality measures

ObjectiveLittle is known regarding variation among electronic health record (EHR) vendors in quality performance. This issue is compounded by selection effects in which high-quality hospitals coalesce to a subset of market leading vendors. We measured hospital performance, stratified by EHR vendor, across 4 quality metrics.Materials and MethodsWe used data on 1272 hospitals in 2018 across 4 quality measures: Leapfrog Computerized Provider Order Entry/EHR Evaluation, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Hospital Compare Star Ratings, Hospital-Acquired Condition (HAC) score, and Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP) ratio. We examined score distributions and used multivariable regression to evaluate the association between vendor and score, recovering partial R² to assess the proportion of quality variation explained by vendor.ResultsWe found significant variation across and within EHR vendors. The largest vendor, vendor A, had the highest mean score on the Leapfrog Computerized Provider Order Entry/EHR Evaluation and HRRP ratio, vendor G had the highest Hospital Compare score, and vendor F had the highest HAC score. In adjusted models, no vendor was significantly associated with higher performance on more than 2 measures. EHR vendor explained between 1.2% (HAC) and 7.6 (HRRP) of the variation in quality performance.DiscussionNo EHR vendor was associated with higher quality across all measures, and the 2 largest vendors were not associated with the highest scores. Only a small fraction of quality variation was explained by EHR vendor choice.ConclusionsTop performance on quality measures can be achieved with any EHR vendor; much of quality performance is driven by the hospital and how it uses the EHR.     

Reporting of demographic data and representativeness in machine learning models using electronic health records

ObjectiveThe development of machine learning (ML) algorithms to address a variety of issues faced in clinical practice has increased rapidly. However, questions have arisen regarding biases in their development that can affect their applicability in specific populations. We sought to evaluate whether studies developing ML models from electronic health record (EHR) data report sufficient demographic data on the study populations to demonstrate representativeness and reproducibility.Materials and MethodsWe searched PubMed for articles applying ML models to improve clinical decision-making using EHR data. We limited our search to papers published between 2015 and 2019.ResultsAcross the 164 studies reviewed, demographic variables were inconsistently reported and/or included as model inputs. Race/ethnicity was not reported in 64%; gender and age were not reported in 24% and 21% of studies, respectively. Socioeconomic status of the population was not reported in 92% of studies. Studies that mentioned these variables often did not report if they were included as model inputs. Few models (12%) were validated using external populations. Few studies (17%) open-sourced their code. Populations in the ML studies include higher proportions of White and Black yet fewer Hispanic subjects compared to the general US population.DiscussionThe demographic characteristics of study populations are poorly reported in the ML literature based on EHR data. Demographic representativeness in training data and model transparency is necessary to ensure that ML models are deployed in an equitable and reproducible manner. Wider adoption of reporting guidelines is warranted to improve representativeness and reproducibility.     

电了病历在临床质量控制中的应用

临床质量管理是电子病历的典型应用之一。论述了临床质量管理的功能框架和应用优势,探讨了网络条件下加强医疗质量控制,特别是加强电子病历质量控制的方法、措施和效果。     

基于XML数据库的电子健康档案系统研究

电子健康档案是以个人为中心,记录个人病史、体检信息和诊断治疗的数字记录.它借助网络实现了个人对自身健康状态的及时了解,并且对医生诊断疾病具有很大的参考价值.在设计电子健康档案系统,选择数据存储方式时,XML数据库是一种较为合适的选择,它的可读性、扩展性、平台无关性恰好解决了健康信息来源多样化、非结构化等问题.     

基于电子健康档案的慢性病管理模式研究

目的:研究电子信息档案在慢性病管理模式中的应用?方法:选取南京市鼓楼区2008年10月~2011年10月的社区慢性病中高血压?糖尿病和恶性肿瘤三种疾病的管理情况作为研究对象,按照不同时期分为2008年10月~2009年9月(A)?2009年10月~2010年9月(B)以及2010年10月~2011年9月(C)三个时段,比较三个时段的辖区人数?建档管理数?建档管理率?规范管理数以及规范管理率?结果:截至2011年9月底,全区完成规范性电子健康档案59.88万份,建档率达72.43%,其中规范管理数达33.34万份,规范管理率高达55.68%?数据间比较,B?C两时段均显著高于A时段(P < 0.05),建档管理数与建档管理率C时段显著高于B时段(P < 0.05),但B?C两时段在规范管理数与规范管理率上差异无统计学意义(P > 0.05)?结论:慢性病信息化管理模式可以有效整合医疗资源,实现慢性病防治的科学管理,可以动态观察个体和群体的相关健康问题,定时评估,及时发现问题并采取措施干预和控制,效果明显,可以有效提高慢性病管理工作效率?     

基于在线质控引擎的电子病历系统

在医疗信息化发展过程中,以电子病历为中心的临床诊疗信息化成为数字化医院建设的重点。电子病历在将病历书写电子化和结构化处理的同时,更需要与病历质量控制功能结合。现有的电子病历实现的病历书写和质控管理大多还局限在原有三级质控机制上,存在一定的滞后性和误差遗留问题。因此,探讨了在电子病历系统中如何将病历书写和质控管理更好地衔接和融合,从而使质控管理参与到病历文档产生的全生命周期,提高电子病历系统的准确性、及时性,保证规范化电子病历文档数据进入,为后期临床病历数据的科研分析奠定良好的数据基础,真正提高电子病历使用价值。     

提高门诊电子病历质量方法

门诊电子病历是数字化医院的重要标志之一，其质量至关重要。本文提出了门诊电子病历目前存在的问题，有针对性地提出解决对策，包括：优化门诊处方设计，加强用药安全；规范录入语言格式，改变存储方式，方便信息利用，增加电子储贮内容，力争与纸质病历相同；强化规章制度管理，确保电子病历安全性；提高电子病历“三性”，最大限度保障法律地位，定期维护相关数据，满足“以人为本”要求；加大质量监管力度，全面提升病案质量。只有门诊电子病历质量提高，医院方能健康全面发展。     

Electronic health records and clinician burnout: A story of three eras

ObjectiveThe study sought to provide physicians, informaticians, and institutional policymakers with an introductory tutorial about the history of medical documentation, sources of clinician burnout, and opportunities to improve electronic health records (EHRs). We now have unprecedented opportunities in health care, with the promise of new cures, improved equity, greater sensitivity to social and behavioral determinants of health, and data-driven precision medicine all on the horizon. EHRs have succeeded in making many aspects of care safer and more reliable. Unfortunately, current limitations in EHR usability and problems with clinician burnout distract from these successes. A complex interplay of technology, policy, and healthcare delivery has contributed to our current frustrations with EHRs. Fortunately, there are opportunities to improve the EHR and health system. A stronger emphasis on improving the clinician’s experience through close collaboration by informaticians, clinicians, and vendors can combine with specific policy changes to address the causes of burnout.Target audienceThis tutorial is intended for clinicians, informaticians, policymakers, and regulators, who are essential participants in discussions focused on improving clinician burnout. Learners in biomedicine, regardless of clinical discipline, also may benefit from this primer and review.ScopeWe include (1) an overview of medical documentation from a historical perspective; (2) a summary of the forces converging over the past 20 years to develop and disseminate the modern EHR; and (3) future opportunities to improve EHR structure, function, user base, and time required to collect and extract information.     

Assessing the practice of data quality evaluation in a national clinical data research network through a systematic scoping review in the era of real-world data

ObjectiveTo synthesize data quality (DQ) dimensions and assessment methods of real-world data, especially electronic health records, through a systematic scoping review and to assess the practice of DQ assessment in the national Patient-centered Clinical Research Network (PCORnet).Materials and MethodsWe started with 3 widely cited DQ literature—2 reviews from Chan et al (2010) and Weiskopf et al (2013a) and 1 DQ framework from Kahn et al (2016)—and expanded our review systematically to cover relevant articles published up to February 2020. We extracted DQ dimensions and assessment methods from these studies, mapped their relationships, and organized a synthesized summarization of existing DQ dimensions and assessment methods. We reviewed the data checks employed by the PCORnet and mapped them to the synthesized DQ dimensions and methods.ResultsWe analyzed a total of 3 reviews, 20 DQ frameworks, and 226 DQ studies and extracted 14 DQ dimensions and 10 assessment methods. We found that completeness, concordance, and correctness/accuracy were commonly assessed. Element presence, validity check, and conformance were commonly used DQ assessment methods and were the main focuses of the PCORnet data checks.DiscussionDefinitions of DQ dimensions and methods were not consistent in the literature, and the DQ assessment practice was not evenly distributed (eg, usability and ease-of-use were rarely discussed). Challenges in DQ assessments, given the complex and heterogeneous nature of real-world data, exist.ConclusionThe practice of DQ assessment is still limited in scope. Future work is warranted to generate understandable, executable, and reusable DQ measures.     

Cross-vendor evaluation of key user-defined clinical decision support capabilities: a scenario-based assessment of certified electronic health records with guidelines for future development

Objective Clinical decision support (CDS) is essential for delivery of high-quality, cost-effective, and safe healthcare. The authors sought to evaluate the CDS capabilities across electronic health record (EHR) systems.Methods We evaluated the CDS implementation capabilities of 8 Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Authorized Certification Body (ONC-ACB)-certified EHRs. Within each EHR, the authors attempted to implement 3 user-defined rules that utilized the various data and logic elements expected of typical EHRs and that represented clinically important evidenced-based care. The rules were: 1) if a patient has amiodarone on his or her active medication list and does not have a thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) result recorded in the last 12 months, suggest ordering a TSH; 2) if a patient has a hemoglobin A1c result >7% and does not have diabetes on his or her problem list, suggest adding diabetes to the problem list; and 3) if a patient has coronary artery disease on his or her problem list and does not have aspirin on the active medication list, suggest ordering aspirin.Results Most evaluated EHRs lacked some CDS capabilities; 5 EHRs were able to implement all 3 rules, and the remaining 3 EHRs were unable to implement any of the rules. One of these did not allow users to customize CDS rules at all. The most frequently found shortcomings included the inability to use laboratory test results in rules, limit rules by time, use advanced Boolean logic, perform actions from the alert interface, and adequately test rules.Conclusion Significant improvements in the EHR certification and implementation procedures are necessary.     

The SMART Platform: early experience enabling substitutable applications for electronic health records

Objective

The Substitutable Medical Applications, Reusable Technologies (SMART) Platforms project seeks to develop a health information technology platform with substitutable applications (apps) constructed around core services. The authors believe this is a promising approach to driving down healthcare costs, supporting standards evolution, accommodating differences in care workflow, fostering competition in the market, and accelerating innovation.

Materials and methods

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, through the Strategic Health IT Advanced Research Projects (SHARP) Program, funds the project. The SMART team has focused on enabling the property of substitutability through an app programming interface leveraging web standards, presenting predictable data payloads, and abstracting away many details of enterprise health information technology systems. Containers—health information technology systems, such as electronic health records (EHR), personally controlled health records, and health information exchanges that use the SMART app programming interface or a portion of it—marshal data sources and present data simply, reliably, and consistently to apps.

Results

The SMART team has completed the first phase of the project (a) defining an app programming interface, (b) developing containers, and (c) producing a set of charter apps that showcase the system capabilities. A focal point of this phase was the SMART Apps Challenge, publicized by the White House, using http://www.challenge.gov website, and generating 15 app submissions with diverse functionality.

Conclusion

Key strategic decisions must be made about the most effective market for further disseminating SMART: existing market-leading EHR vendors, new entrants into the EHR market, or other stakeholders such as health information exchanges.     

Building longitudinal medication dose data using medication information extracted from clinical notes in electronic health records

ObjectiveTo develop an algorithm for building longitudinal medication dose datasets using information extracted from clinical notes in electronic health records (EHRs).Materials and MethodsWe developed an algorithm that converts medication information extracted using natural language processing (NLP) into a usable format and builds longitudinal medication dose datasets. We evaluated the algorithm on 2 medications extracted from clinical notes of Vanderbilt’s EHR and externally validated the algorithm using clinical notes from the MIMIC-III clinical care database.ResultsFor the evaluation using Vanderbilt’s EHR data, the performance of our algorithm was excellent; F1-measures were ≥0.98 for both dose intake and daily dose. For the external validation using MIMIC-III, the algorithm achieved F1-measures ≥0.85 for dose intake and ≥0.82 for daily dose.DiscussionOur algorithm addresses the challenge of building longitudinal medication dose data using information extracted from clinical notes. Overall performance was excellent, but the algorithm can perform poorly when incorrect information is extracted by NLP systems. Although it performed reasonably well when applied to the external data source, its performance was worse due to differences in the way the drug information was written. The algorithm is implemented in the R package, “EHR,” and the extracted data from Vanderbilt’s EHRs along with the gold standards are provided so that users can reproduce the results and help improve the algorithm.ConclusionOur algorithm for building longitudinal dose data provides a straightforward way to use EHR data for medication-based studies. The external validation results suggest its potential for applicability to other systems.     

Evaluation of an electronic health record-supported obesity management protocol implemented in a community health center: a cautionary note

Objective Primary care clinicians are well-positioned to intervene in the obesity epidemic. We studied whether implementation of an obesity intake protocol and electronic health record (EHR) form to guide behavior modification would facilitate identification and management of adult obesity in a Federally Qualified Health Center serving low-income, Hispanic patients.Materials and Methods In three studies, we examined clinician and patient outcomes before and after the addition of the weight management protocol and form. In the Clinician Study, 12 clinicians self-reported obesity management practices. In the Population Study, BMI and order data from 5000 patients and all 40 clinicians in the practice were extracted from the EHR preintervention and postintervention. In the Exposure Study, EHR-documented outcomes for a sub-sample of 46 patients actually exposed to the obesity management form were compared to matched controls.Results Clinicians reported that the intake protocol and form increased their performance of obesity-related assessments and their confidence in managing obesity. However, no improvement in obesity management practices or patient weight-loss was evident in EHR records for the overall clinic population. Further analysis revealed that only 55 patients were exposed to the form. Exposed patients were twice as likely to receive weight-loss counseling following the intervention, as compared to before, and more likely than matched controls. However, their obesity outcomes did not differ.Conclusion Results suggest that an obesity intake protocol and EHR-based weight management form may facilitate clinician weight-loss counseling among those exposed to the form. Significant implementation barriers can limit exposure, however, and need to be addressed.     

The impact of time spent on the electronic health record after work and of clerical work on burnout among clinical faculty

ObjectiveTo identify specific thresholds of daily electronic health record (EHR) time after work and daily clerical time burden associated with burnout in clinical faculty.Materials and MethodsWe administered an institution-wide survey to faculty in all departments at Mount Sinai Health System from November 2018 to February 2019. The Maslach Burnout Inventory and Mayo Well-Being Index assessed burnout. Demographics, possible confounding variables, and time spent on EHR work/clerical burden were assessed.ResultsOf 4156 eligible faculty members, 1781(42.9%) participated in the survey. After adjustment for background factors, EHR frustration (odds ratio [OR]=1.64–1.66), spending >90 minutes on EHR-outside the workday by self-report (OR = 1.41–1.90) and >1 hour of self-reported clerical work/day (OR = 1.39) were associated with burnout. Reporting that one’s practice unloads clerical burden (OR = 0.50–0.66) and higher resilience scores (OR = 0.77–0.84) were negatively associated with burnout.Spending >90 minutes/day on EHR-outside work (OR = 0.66–0.67) and >60 minutes/day on clerical work (OR = 0.54–0.58) was associated with decreased likelihood of satisfactory work–life integration (WLI) and professional satisfaction (PS). Greater meaning in work was associated with an increasedlikelihoodof achieving WLI (OR = 2.51) and PS (OR = 21.67).ConclusionResults suggest there are thresholds of excessive time on the EHR-outside the workday (>90 minutes) and overall clerical tasks (>60 minutes), above which clinical faculty may be at increased risk for burnout, as well as reduced WLI and PS, independent of demographic characteristics and clinical work hours. These thresholds of EHR and clerical burden may inform interventions aimed at mitigating this burden to reduce physician burnout.     

以电子病历为载体建立手术分级管理督查制度

为保障手术分级管理制度的有效落实,广东省中医院以电子病历为载体建立了手术分级管理“二审一查”制度,实施手术分级管理动态化督查、信息化管理,是对传统手术分级管理方法进行梳理基础上的一种新思路。自2005年实施以来,手术患者总住院死亡率降低了0．48％,非计划性二次手术率得到了有效控制,推动了医疗质量的持续改进。     

以电子病历为核心建立区域孕产妇电子健康档案的探讨

随着医院信息化的发展,单一的信息孤岛系统很难满足患者和医疗机构对完整信息链的需求。为此,需要构建统一完整的居民健康档案和跨医疗机构的信息共享机制,协同不同医疗机构的业务信息系统,实现居民电子病历和健康档案信息的共享和交换,为相关部门提供全面准确的决策支持。电子病历和电子健康档案是医院信息系统重要的两个组成部分。电子健康档案是电子病历的高级形式,有着电子病历无法替代的作用。它兼容患者医疗及个人健康保健、家庭健康档案、公共卫生信息、术后随访记录等信息,并实现居民健康档案多档合一。它实现了不同医疗机构的信息数据交流,利用更新及交互应用,可提高信息的使用率,是社区卫生服务的依据及全科医疗的工具,在区域卫生信息化建设中起着重要作用。重点介绍以电子病历为核心建立孕产妇的社区电子健康档案。     

Using event logs to observe interactions with electronic health records: an updated scoping review shows increasing use of vendor-derived measures

ObjectiveThe aim of this article is to compare the aims, measures, methods, limitations, and scope of studies that employ vendor-derived and investigator-derived measures of electronic health record (EHR) use, and to assess measure consistency across studies.Materials and MethodsWe searched PubMed for articles published between July 2019 and December 2021 that employed measures of EHR use derived from EHR event logs. We coded the aims, measures, methods, limitations, and scope of each article and compared articles employing vendor-derived and investigator-derived measures.ResultsOne hundred and two articles met inclusion criteria; 40 employed vendor-derived measures, 61 employed investigator-derived measures, and 1 employed both. Studies employing vendor-derived measures were more likely than those employing investigator-derived measures to observe EHR use only in ambulatory settings (83% vs 48%, P = .002) and only by physicians or advanced practice providers (100% vs 54% of studies, P < .001). Studies employing vendor-derived measures were also more likely to measure durations of EHR use (P < .001 for 6 different activities), but definitions of measures such as time outside scheduled hours varied widely. Eight articles reported measure validation. The reported limitations of vendor-derived measures included measure transparency and availability for certain clinical settings and roles.DiscussionVendor-derived measures are increasingly used to study EHR use, but only by certain clinical roles. Although poorly validated and variously defined, both vendor- and investigator-derived measures of EHR time are widely reported.ConclusionThe number of studies using event logs to observe EHR use continues to grow, but with inconsistent measure definitions and significant differences between studies that employ vendor-derived and investigator-derived measures.     

Brief communication: Facility characteristics associated with the use of electronic health records in residential care facilities

The integration of electronic health records (EHRs) across care settings including residential care facilities (RCFs) promises to reduce medical errors and improve coordination of services. Using data from the 2010 National Survey of Residential Care Facilities (n=2302), this study examines the association between facility structural characteristics and the use of EHRs in RCFs. Findings indicate that in 2010, only 3% of RCFs nationwide were using an EHR. However, 55% of RCFs reported using a computerized system for one or more (but not all) of the functionalities defined by a basic EHR. Ownership, chain membership, staffing levels, and facility size were significantly associated with the use of one or more core EHR functionalities. These findings suggest that facility characteristics may play an important role in the adoption of EHRs in RCFs.