The impact of e-prescribing on prescriber and staff time in ambulatory care clinics: a time motion study.
Electronic prescribing has improved the quality and safety of care. One barrier preventing widespread adoption is the potential detrimental impact on workflow. We used time-motion techniques to compare prescribing times at three ambulatory care sites that used paper-based prescribing, desktop, or laptop e-prescribing. An observer timed all prescriber (n = 27) and staff (n = 42) tasks performed during a 4-hour period. At the sites with optional e-prescribing >75% of prescription-related events were performed electronically. Prescribers at e-prescribing sites spent less time writing, but time-savings were offset by increased computer tasks. After adjusting for site, prescriber and prescription type, e-prescribing tasks took marginally longer than hand written prescriptions (12.0 seconds; -1.6, 25.6 CI). Nursing staff at the e-prescribing sites spent longer on computer tasks (5.4 minutes/hour; 0.0, 10.7 CI). E-prescribing was not associated with an increase in combined computer and writing time for prescribers. If carefully implemented, e-prescribing will not greatly disrupt workflow.
Hollingworth
William
W
Department of Radiology, University of Washington, 325 Ninth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104-2499, USA. willh@u.washington.edu
Devine
Emily Beth
EB
Hansen
Ryan N
RN
Lawless
Nathan M
NM
Comstock
Bryan A
BA
Wilson-Norton
Jennifer L
JL
Tharp
Kathleen L
KL
Sullivan
Sean D
SD
D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D006801:Humans; D050316:Medical Order Entry Systems; D013996:Time and Motion Studies
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