Although EHR systems offer many benefits, physicians often face problems with lots of extra paperwork. Studies show that doctors in the U.S. work about 58 hours per week on average. Out of those, more than 20 hours are spent on tasks like documentation, entering orders, and other administrative duties such as dealing with insurance papers. Nearly one in five doctors spends over eight hours a week doing EHR work outside their normal office hours. This extra work adds to physician burnout, which affects over 43 percent of doctors in the U.S. as of 2024.
Burnout can cause doctors to quit and also hurts patient care. Doctors who spend too much time on paperwork may feel tired and less satisfied with their job. This can lead to mistakes and lower the quality of care patients get. So, reducing paperwork is important to keep healthcare workers healthy and practices running well.
To address rising burnout, the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) released the “National Plan for Health Workforce Well-Being” in 2022. The plan set goals to cut down extra work caused by laws, rules, and paperwork that stress health workers.
One main goal is to reduce the time spent on documentation by 75 percent by 2025. This would let doctors spend more time with patients and take care of themselves. The plan stresses using technology that makes work easier, is simple to use, and works well across different systems. It also asks healthcare leaders to make well-being a priority and to regularly check how stressed workers are during work.
NAM’s plan also suggests changing policies so clinical work can be more flexible. This includes allowing virtual or hybrid work models that can help lower stress from documentation.
Many healthcare groups have had success by sharing documentation tasks with more team members. Medical assistants, clinical pharmacists, and scribes can help with note-taking and entering data. For example, Phoenix Children’s Hospital uses a system where doctors can enter most clinical notes in a structured way easily. This lets all team members work together and cuts down how much time doctors spend on detailed notes.
At Northwell Health, clinical pharmacists help doctors in neurology manage patient loads and admin work. This frees up doctors to see more patients. Baptist Health Medical Group tested a program where non-doctors handle doctor inbox messages during vacations. These team-based efforts save doctors from time-heavy tasks and help reduce burnout.
Another good method is training staff to use the EHR system well. Teaching everyone how to use the system’s features reduces mistakes and saves time. Training can include using templates, shortcuts, and structured data entry designed for the practice.
Improving workflows by cutting out unnecessary steps also helps. Organizations like HCA Healthcare work to find and fix problems like broken equipment or complicated EHR processes. They call these “hindrance job demands.” Fixing these bottlenecks makes documentation easier and helps doctors feel better about their work.
Having patients help with documentation can also reduce doctors’ work. Using patient portals, patients can fill out questionnaires before appointments. These forms cover medical history and reviews of symptoms. This info links to the EHR and is ready when the doctor begins documentation.
When patients complete digital forms before visits, doctors spend less time on paperwork during appointments and can focus more on patient care.
Ramapo Radiology stopped using physical CDs to share medical images and switched to QR codes. This change cut CD production from 4,000 to about 2,000 per month. It saved staff between 333 and 500 hours monthly. Those hours can now be used for important patient care tasks.
Phoenix Children’s Hospital’s clinical relevancy engine helps doctors quickly see key patient information. This saves time searching and supports better clinical decisions.
New technology like artificial intelligence (AI) and automation helps reduce EHR workloads in healthcare. AI tools can do routine documentation tasks so doctors spend more time with patients.
For example, The Permanente Medical Group uses AI scribes that listen to doctor-patient talks and write notes automatically. This lowers the need for doctors to write notes by hand and helps cut after-hours work.
Geisinger Health System uses AI to help with chart reviews and documentation. This gives doctors more free time. Ochsner Health uses AI to draft replies to patient messages, easing the message load on doctors.
At Texas Children’s Pediatrics, over 250 doctors use AI systems that reduce note-writing time and let them finish required documentation faster while focusing on patients.
These AI helpers also lower mental overload by organizing data, supporting decisions, and helping with billing and coding rules.
Automation doesn’t just help with notes. It also helps manage inboxes, schedule appointments, and follow up with patients. For AI and automation to work well, they must be easy to use, fit with current systems, and not make things harder.
Cutting down on documentation tasks gives many benefits. Doctors who spend less time on EHR work, both at and after work hours, feel better about their jobs and have less burnout. Data from the AMA show burnout among doctors dropped from 53 percent in 2022 to 43.2 percent in 2024. This drop links to better admin help and workflow changes.
Practice managers see smoother clinic work and staff staying longer. When paperwork is easier, doctors can spend more time with patients, which improves care and efficiency.
Spending on worker well-being helps lower turnover and makes healthcare stronger, especially during public health challenges like pandemics.
Leadership is key in making changes to lower EHR paperwork. Health system leaders need to recognize how electronic documentation tires doctors and set rules to support their well-being. NAM’s plan advises including doctor well-being in an organization’s core values and plans.
Changes in policies are also important. Making rules and documentation standards simpler cuts down repeated tasks. Flexible work models, such as telehealth or hybrid care, fit different work settings and reduce admin layers.
Investments in healthcare technology should focus on tools that support team work, help clinical decisions, and easily connect with current systems without extra admin work.
By sharing documentation tasks with care teams, improving EHR training, letting patients take part, creating new ways to share data, and using AI and automation, medical groups in the U.S. can lower EHR paperwork a lot. These steps help doctors feel better, boost healthcare efficiency, and improve patient care. Leadership and policy support work together with technology and workflow methods to make reducing documentation burdens possible.
For administrators, owners, and IT managers, these strategies offer practical ways to change how documentation is handled in medical settings. This can create better and more lasting workplaces for doctors and patients.
EHRs provide quick access to patient information, secure sharing capabilities, improved patient-provider communication, reduced paperwork, streamlined coding and billing, and serve as a crucial resource for malpractice defense.
Overemphasis on EHR documentation can lead to increased stress and burnout among physicians due to the administrative burden it imposes.
Strategies include decentralizing responsibilities, utilizing care team members for documentation, allowing patient involvement, reducing manual notetaking, and incorporating EHR training.
Broader care teams can take on documentation tasks, which alleviates the pressure on physicians and promotes teamwork within healthcare settings.
Clinical relevancy engines help clinicians quickly access key information within EHRs, improving efficiency and patient outcomes by reducing time spent searching for data.
They implemented a clinical relevancy engine that structured note-taking, allowing clinicians to visualize patient data and make quicker treatment decisions.
They adopted QR codes for medical image sharing, which significantly reduced the labor and costs associated with physical media transfer.
The new workflow is estimated to save 333-500 hours per month, allowing staff to focus on more critical activities.
Innovation in EHRs doesn’t require the latest technology; sometimes, it involves rethinking existing processes for better efficiency.
Resources provided by MLMIC detail best practices related to risk management, safety, and addressing inefficiencies associated with EHR use.
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