Patient satisfaction with healthcare services has been on a gradual decline over the last decade.
There has also been a sharp decline in doctor and nurse satisfaction, especially with the rise in managed care, where medical professionals are micro-managed from all sides by payers, legislators, courts of law and patient demands.
Download EHRs & Patient Satisfaction: the Missing Link
In the midst of all this, electronic health record technology has risen to become the single largest factor affecting medical practices today, including ENT practitioners. With the push to adopt EHR technology has come the challenges that follow new technology adoption, and this is having a negative impact on staff and patient satisfaction, both directly and indirectly.
When a practice begins the process of looking for and adopting a new EHR, decision makers often base their decisions on what will make the most financial sense for the practice, and rarely what will make the most practical sense for the staff.
According to the Black Book’s Q3 2014 EHR Loyalty Poll that polled 14,000 nurse practitioners on their sentiments towards EHR technology, 88% blame financial administrators and CIOs for selecting low performance systems based on EHR pricing, government incentives and cutting corners at the expense of quality of care. This staggering result paints a grim picture of what is going on in practices across the US and why there is so much dissatisfaction. In addition, the poll also found that 90% of EHR nursing users attested that the use of the current system in their facility has negatively impacted communications between nurses and their patients. This is a clear indicator that EHR technology adoption is negatively affecting patient sentiments.
In terms of job satisfaction, the poll found that 84% of nurses said their satisfaction with the job had been hampered through disruption of productivity and workflow occasioned by the introduction of EHR technology. The findings of the poll also found that 94% of nurses do not believe that the use of their current EHR has improved the communication between the nurse and the care team (physicians, respiratory therapists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, pharmacists, etc.).
Inferring from to the poll results, greater nurse satisfaction and patient satisfaction can be achieved through the development and implementation of more user-focused technology that aims at improving workflows.
More than cost, there is also a need to include what works best for end-user when deciding which EHR to purchase. At the end of the day, a great EHR means having a more satisfied and settled staff, less employee turnover, more efficient workflows and overall improved quality of healthcare provided to patients.
