Doctors documenting: An ethnographic and informatics approach to understanding attending physician documentation in the pediatric emergency department

Publication Date

2-1-2021

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association

Volume

28

Issue

2

DOI

10.1093/jamia/ocaa252

First Page

239

Last Page

248

Abstract

Objective: The pediatric emergency department is a highly complex and evolving environment. Despite the fact that physicians spend a majority of their time on documentation, little research has examined the role of documentation in provider workflow. The aim of this study is to examine the task of attending physician documentation workflow using a mixed-methods approach including focused ethnography, informatics, and the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) model as a theoretical framework. Materials and Methods: In a 2-part study, we conducted a hierarchical task analysis of patient flow, followed by a survey of documenting ED providers. The second phase of the study included focused ethnographic observations of ED attendings which included measuring interruptions, time and motion, documentation locations, and qualitative field notes. This was followed by analysis of documentation data from the electronic medical record system. Results: Overall attending physicians reported low ratings of documentation satisfaction; satisfaction after each shift was associated with busyness and resident completion. Documentation occurred primarily in the provider workrooms, however strategies such as bedside documentation, dictation, and multitasking with residents were observed. Residents interrupted attendings more often but also completed more documentation actions in the electronic medical record. Discussion: Our findings demonstrate that complex work processes such as documentation, cannot be measured with 1 single data point or statistical analysis but rather a combination of data gathered from observations, surveys, comments, and thematic analyses. Conclusion: Utilizing a sociotechnical systems framework and a mixed-methods approach, this study provides a holistic picture of documentation workflow. This approach provides a valuable foundation not only for researchers approaching complex healthcare systems but also for hospitals who are considering implementing large health information technology projects.

Keywords

Documentation, Electronic medical records, Emergency department, Human factors, Work system

Department

Psychology

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