Ancillary health care providers like nurses and physician assistants spend more time using electronic health record systems and other digital technology in their clinical work than physicians, according to a study by Manhattan Research, FierceEMR reports (Durben Hirsch, FierceEMR, 7/26).
Study Details
For the study, Manhattan Research surveyed 1,019 advanced practice registered nurses, registered nurses and physician assistants.
The research firm then compared the survey results with its earlier survey of 3,015 practicing physicians.
Study Findings
According to the study, the average amount of time spent per week using online systems for professional purposes are:
In addition, the study found that 74% of PAs, 67% of RNs and 60% of APRNs use their smartphones at the point of care, compared with 40% of physicians (Murphy, EHR Intelligence, 7/24).
The study also found that 83% of PAs, 79% of RNs and 76% of APRNs said they were interested in using the pharmaceutical features of EHR systems, compared with 67% of physicians (Manhattan Research release, 7/23).
Researchers suggested that ancillary health care providers' extensive use of health IT has the potential to influence other health care stakeholders who are making decisions about purchasing and using EHR systems and other digital health products (FierceEMR, 7/26).