Report of the AMIA EHR-2020 Task Force on the status and future direction of EHRs

Abstract

Over the last 5 years, stimulated by the changing healthcare environment and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Meaningful Use (MU) Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive program, EHR adoption has increased remarkably, and there is early evidence that such adoption has resulted in healthcare safety and quality benefits.1,2 However, with this broad adoption, many clinicians are voicing concerns that EHR use has had unintended clinical consequences, including reduced time for patient-clinician interaction,3 new and burdensome data entry tasks being transferred to front-line clinicians,4,5 and lengthened clinician workdays.6–8 Additionally, interoperability between different EHR systems has languished despite large efforts towards that goal.9,10 These challenges are contributing to physicians’ decreased satisfaction with their work lives.11–13 In professional journals,14 press reports,15–17 on wards, and in clinics, we have heard of the difficulties that the transition from paper records to EHRs has created.18 As a result, clinicians are seeking help to get through their work days, which often extend into evenings devoted to writing notes. Examples of comments we have received from clinicians and patients include: “Computers always make things faster and cheaper. Not this time,” and “My doctor pays more attention to the computer than to me.”