The Effects of Electronic Health Record Implementation on Medical Student Educators

Background: Electronic heath records (EHRs) are being rapidly adopted. Little attention has been paid to the effects of EHR implementation on teaching. Purpose: The goal was to determine the effect of EHR implementation on medical student educators and to characterize features that might influence their responses. Methods: A survey of all clinical faculty at Oregon Health & Science University was taken. The authors inquired about the effect of EHR implementation on enthusiasm for teaching and characterized factors that might contribute to responses. Results: Nearly half of the faculty reported decreased enthusiasm for teaching following EHR implementation (48.2%). Most (65.1%) reported that the EHR distracted from teaching, and few saw its advantages. Most reported that EHR implementation led them to teach less (62.3%); the most enthusiastic teachers were most affected. Conclusions: EHR implementation in an academic medical center has substantial effects on educators. Further work is needed to determine how to train medical educators and modify the EHR to best support teaching.