A survey found small physician practices believe EHRs truncate the number of patients they could see each day, which may impact practices' bottom lines, according to healthcare informatics.
Health Information Management published the survey which polled 15 U.S. physicians who have been at their practice for at least five years.
Here are six takeaways:
1. The physicians' primary concern was having less face time with patients.
2. Forty-seven percent said a reduction in patient volume was their top concern.
3. Respondents said EHR use took away from focusing on the patient which could result in the physician missing medical conditions.
4. Thirty-three percent said EHRs could cause small practices to close due to cost issues.
5. Respondents said they if they have adequate software features and transfer protocols in their EHR, they believe medical record management's escalated cost could go down.
6. Researchers concluded the study suggests EHR vendors should create educational tools to show physicians how to "optimize the EHR as well as to share success stories that demonstrate improved financial impact."