Problem
Research questions and friction points this paper is trying to address.
Electronic Health Records
Interoperability
Physician Satisfaction
Family Physicians
Trends in EHR Satisfaction and Interoperability Among Family Physicians: A Five-Year Analysis of the ABFM Continuous Certification Questionnaire, 2022-2026
🤖 AI Summary
This study evaluates trends in family physicians’ satisfaction with electronic health record (EHR) systems and the current state of cross-organizational interoperability. Leveraging survey data from the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM), the authors employ serial cross-sectional analyses, adjusted logistic regression, and Cochran-Armitage trend tests for quantitative assessment. The findings reveal a widening satisfaction gap between Epic and other vendors, alongside persistent difficulties in accessing information across different EHR platforms. By empirically quantifying the diverging trajectories of EHR satisfaction and demonstrating that interoperability barriers continue to threaten care quality and patient safety, this work provides critical evidence to inform the optimization of health information policy.
📝 Abstract
Objective: To assess trends in family physicians'(FPs) electronic health record (EHR) satisfaction and their experience of interoperability across organizations. Materials and Methods: Serial cross-sectional analysis of five waves of the American Board of Family Medicine's Continuous Certification Questionnaire (2022-26). Adjusted logistic regression compared odds of being very satisfied across 11 EHRs; Cochran-Armitage tests assessed vendor trends. Ease of using outside information was analyzed separately for same- and different-vendor sources. Results: Across 36,785 FPs, adjusted odds of being very satisfied relative to Epic ranged from 0.91 (95% CI, 0.74-1.11) for Elation Health to 0.17 (95% CI, 0.15-0.20) for Oracle Health/Cerner. Only Epic's users became significantly more satisfied (Benjamini-Hochberg adjusted P<.001), widening the vendor satisfaction gap. Within comparable periods, ease of using different-vendor information did not improve; fewer than 13% rated it very easy. Epic's interoperability advantage reversed by exchange type: non-Epic users had less than half the odds of Epic users of rating same-vendor interoperability very easy (adjusted OR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.38-0.44) but 1.54 times the odds for different-vendor interoperability (95% CI, 1.35-1.75). Discussion and Conclusion: The ABFM data are already informing EHR policy effects but they also have utility for the EHR marketplace. EHR satisfaction differences are widening, and reported ease of using different-vendor information is low and unchanged. While EHR satisfaction has known implications for burden and burnout, interoperability is a quality and safety threat that may be compounded by artificial intelligence.
Innovation
Methods, ideas, or system contributions that make the work stand out.
Electronic Health Records
Interoperability
Longitudinal Analysis
Adjusted Logistic Regression
Artificial Intelligence
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