Time requirements of paper-based clinical workflows and after-hours documentation in a multi-specialty academic ophthalmology practice.

Abstract

PURPOSE\nTo assess time requirements for patient encounters and estimate after-hours demands of paper-based clinical workflows in ophthalmology.\n\n\nDESIGN\nTime-and-motion study with a structured survey METHODS:• SETTING: : Single academic ophthalmology department.\n\n\nPARTICIPANTS AND OBSERVATION PROCEDURES\nConvenience sample of seven attending ophthalmologists from six subspecialties observed during 414 patient encounters for the time-motion analysis and twelve attending ophthalmologists for the survey.\n\n\nMAIN OUTCOME MEASURES\nTotal time spent by attending ophthalmologists per patient, and time spent on documentation, examination, and talking with patients. The survey assessed time requirements of documentation-related activities performed outside of scheduled clinic hours.\n\n\nRESULTS\nAmong the 7 attending ophthalmologists observed (6 men and 1 woman, mean (SD) age, 43.9 (7.1) years) during encounters with 414 patients (mean (SD) age of 57.8 (24.6) years), the mean (SD) total time spent per patient was 8.1 (4.8) minutes, with 2.8 (1.4) minutes (38%) for documentation, 1.2 (0.9) minutes (17%) for examination, and 3.3 (3.1) minutes (37%) for talking with patients. New patient evaluations required significantly more time than routine follow-up visits and post-operative visits. Higher clinical volumes were associated with less time per patient. Survey results indicated that paper-based documentation was associated with minimal after-hours work on weeknights and weekends.\n\n\nCONCLUSIONS\nand Relevance: Paper-based documentation comprises a substantial portion of the total time spent for patient care in outpatient ophthalmology clinics but is associated with minimal after-hours work. Understanding paper-based clinical workflows may help inform targeted strategies for improving electronic health record use in ophthalmology.