Electronic health records have been a punching bag for many in medicine, with frequent complaints focusing on implementation problems, interference in the patient physician relationship and increased burden on care providers. Despite such problems, EHRs are making progress, with a recent survey finding 79 percent of nurses are satisfied with their systems.
The survey, conducted by Black Book Research and distributed May 10, collected 7,409 responses from staff nurses and managers, with questions focusing on EHR preferences, frustrations and overall utility.
"With so many unique software interfaces from medical equipment and the multiple departmental applications, siloed health data sets, and current cybersecurity initiatives, it's no surprise that hospital nurses are, at times, discouraged but the majority of nurses responding to the 2018 survey see the value in their EHR fluency," said Doug Brown, managing partner of Black Book Research.
That love-hate relationship with EHR appears to be tilting more toward warm embrace. The 79 percent satisfaction rate in 2018 is a significant increase from just 24 percent of respondents approving of EHR performance in 2014.
Though satisfaction is high, nurses still see EHR as disruptive—69 percent of respondents said it was problematic in 2018. This figure is down from 84 percent two years ago.
"Technology can help nurses do their jobs more effectively or it can be a highly intrusive burden on the hospital nurse delivering patient care," said Brown.
Among EHR providers, Cerner ranked No. 1 in overall satisfaction, with 93 percent of responses supporting the tech giant’s platforms. Meditech (88 percent), AllScripts (88 percent) and McKesson (85 percent) rounded out the top four.
Nicholas joined TriMed in 2016 as the managing editor of the Chicago office. After receiving his master’s from Roosevelt University, he worked in various writing/editing roles for magazines ranging in topic from billiards to metallurgy. Currently on Chicago’s north side, Nicholas keeps busy by running, reading and talking to his two cats.