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

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 a...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association Vol. 28; no. 2; pp. 239 - 249
Main Authors: Fouquet, Sarah D, Fitzmaurice, Laura, Chan, Y Raymond, Palmer, Evan M
Format: research Journal Article
Published: Oxford University Press / USA Feb2021
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=148717893&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ccm
    uiTerm: 148717893
    longDbName: CINAHL Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    dissinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        10675027
        FZ9
      jtl: Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association
      issn: 10675027
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: Feb2021
      vid: 28
      iid: 2
      pid: 622
      pub: Oxford University Press / USA
    artinfo:
      ui:
        148717893
        148717893
        NLM33175154
        148717893
        10.1093/jamia/ocaa252
        NLM33175154
        148717893
      ppf: 239
      ppct: 10
      formats:
      tig:
        atl: Doctors documenting: an ethnographic and informatics approach to understanding attending physician documentation in the pediatric emergency department.
      aug:
        au:
          Fouquet, Sarah D
          Fitzmaurice, Laura
          Chan, Y Raymond
          Palmer, Evan M
        affil: Human Factors Collaborative, Children's Mercy Hospital Kansas City , Kansas City, Missouri, USA
      sug:
        subj:
          Pediatrics
          Medical Staff, Hospital
          Emergency Service Administration
          Documentation
          Systems Analysis
          Task Performance and Analysis
          Anthropology, Cultural
          Child
          Clinical Assessment Tools
          Scales
          Child: 6-12 years
      ab: 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.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
    refInfo:
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N