Exploring doctors' satisfaction with electronic health records and their features: A nationwide survey study

Electronic Health Records (EHR) have revolutionized care delivery. Studies focus more on improving patients’ experiences as direct consumers of the technologies provided. However, doctors’ satisfaction with the systems remains of similar importance. In this study, we explore the services and usages of EHRs that impact providers’ satisfaction with the use of such computerized systems in their organizations. We used nationally representative data (National Electronic Health Records Survey extended survey) to analyze the EHR’s features and services impacting providers’ satisfaction with the computerized systems used. We ran all statistical analyses using Python 3.7, and (n=1,524 doctors) responded to the surveys. Most respondents were satisfied with the EHR systems used (72.15% of all respondents). We explored the systems’ factors that impacted this satisfaction. We found that strategies that allow patients to view, download, exchange, or upload health information through online medical records made doctors more satisfied with EHRs (OR=3.68, 4.05, 4.53, and 5; P=0.002, 0.01, 0,005, 0.01). However, the certification criteria of EHR tools did not significantly impact their satisfaction (P=0.13). Recording information, safety, and quality measurement did not significantly correlate with the doctors’ satisfaction. However, patient involvement and communication-related usage greatly impacted it. For instance, doctors who use EHRs to exchange secure messages with their patients and create shared care plans that are available across clinical care teams were more satisfied with the computerized systems (OR=3.54, 3.70; P=0.001, respectively 0.003). This study serves as an excellent reference to the EHR designers and organizations that adopt EHR to organize information flow within healthcare organizations. As providers’ EHR satisfaction is principally correlated with the ability of the systems to support communication with patients and teams, designers and EHR vendors should consider designing the systems to satisfy the needs of the users. It is time for them to consider interoperability and connectivity as design opportunities and a must-have. To conclude, this study revealed that higher levels of satisfaction were associated with the perceived positive effect of EHR on patient’s access to and with the management of the information flow within the care team. Future research should focus on improving the design and implementation of EHRs to score better performance with fewer errors and optimized satisfaction of all healthcare processes actors.