Addressing the usability conundrum of electronic patient records

The consensus is that electronic patient records are essential to delivering more joined up and integrated care. NHS England’s stated aim is therefore for all hospitals to have an EPR in place by 2025. These systems are seen as a key means of supporting improvements to the quality and management of services, including by putting information at clinicians’ fingertips.

However, a growing body of research evidence suggests that, as currently implemented, EPRs can actually contribute to clinician burnout. On some systems it can be difficult to complete tasks swiftly which means increased time spent on creating clinical documentation, often outside working hours.

The danger is that, in some instances, EPRs – a huge investment, and complicated to implement – can therefore cause challenges as well as solving them.

In this HSJ webinar, run in association with Nuance Communications, a small panel will consider this issue. What are the current challenges with using EPRs? How are these affecting clinical practice? And, most importantly, what might be done to address these issues such that EPRs fulfil their promise to reduce pressures on clinicians?

Addressing the usability conundrum of electronic patient records: Sponsored by Microsoft Nuance.