Electronic Health Record Burden Among Gastroenterology Providers Associated With Subspecialty and Training

Introduction: Use of the electronic health record (EHR) has become increasingly widespread. Higher EHR burden is associated with burnout, but this has not been specifically investigated among gastroenterology (GI) providers.

Methods: We retrospectively collected measures of EHR use for outpatient GI providers during a 6-month period. We compared metrics across provider sex, subspecialty, and training (physicians vs nonphysician providers [NPPs]).

Results: Data collected represented more than 16,000 appointments from 41 providers across the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and hepatology specialists spent more time per appointment in the EHR, clinical review, and outside regular hours compared with other subspecialists. NPPs spent more EHR time than physicians.

Discussion: IBD and hepatology specialists and NPPs may have disproportionally high EHR burden. More work is needed to understand differences in provider workload to combat burnout.