Variables associated with completeness of medical record documentation in the emergency department

Objective: The completeness of ED medical record documentation is often suboptimal. We aimed to determine the variables associated with documentation completeness in a large, tertiary referral ED.

Methods: We audited 1200 randomly selected medical records of patients who presented with either abdominal pain, cardiac chest pain, shortness of breath or headache between May-July 2013 and May-July 2016. Data were collected on patient and treating doctor variables. Documentation completeness was assessed using a 0-10 point scoring tool designed for the study. A maximum score was achieved if each of 10 pre-determined important items, specific to the presenting complaint, were documented (five medical history items, five physical examination items). Data were analysed using multivariate regression.

Results: The presenting year, day and time, patient age and gender, preferred language, interpreter requirement, discharge destination and doctor gender were not associated with documentation completeness (P > 0.05). Patients with triage category 3 or pain score of 6-7 had higher documentation scores (P < 0.05). Compared to interns, registrars (effect size -0.72, 95% CI -1.02 to -0.42, P < 0.01) and consultants (-1.62, 95% CI -1.95 to -1.29, P < 0.01) scored significantly less. The headache patient subgroup scored significantly less than the other patient subgroups (-0.35, 95% CI -0.63 to -0.08, P = 0.01). For all presenting complaint subgroups, examination findings were less well documented than history items (P < 0.001).

Conclusion: Documentation completeness is less among senior doctors, headache patients and for examination findings. Research should determine if the supervision responsibilities of senior doctors affects documentation and if medico-legal and patient care implications exist.