Tierney Madeline G, Via Ellen C, Wirth Peter J, Israel Jacqueline S
From the Division of Plastic Surgery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI.
Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open. 2025 Sep 19;13(9):e7124. doi: 10.1097/GOX.0000000000007124. eCollection 2025 Sep.
The electronic medical record (EMR) has many benefits but has been shown to be a source of burnout for physicians. Data suggest that female physicians in ambulatory medicine spend more time using the EMR than male physicians, though this has yet to be studied in the surgical setting. This study aimed to analyze EMR usage patterns between male and female plastic surgeons at a single institution.
Thirteen attending plastic surgeons at a single institution were included in this study. EMR usage data were extracted from Epic from December 2021 to December 2022. Extracted variables included time spent on messages, precharting, notes, orders, the in-basket feature, and total usage during and outside the workday. Demographic analysis was performed, and a univariate regression model was used to compare variables between groups.
Three surgeons were women, and 10 were men. Female plastic surgeons spent 18.9 seconds longer on each message in the EMR ( < 0.05) and 5.52 minutes longer using the in-basket feature compared with male surgeons ( < 0.05). Additionally, female surgeons spent 15.3 more minutes on notes ( < 0.05).
Female plastic surgeons spend significantly more time on messages with patients and staff and spend more time in notes than their male counterparts. In our study, these differences reflected nearly 2 additional hours/wk spent on EMR usage. Because workload related to the EMR may contribute to burnout, institutions can work with physicians to recognize time spent on required documentation and identify ways to improve efficiency.
电子病历（EMR）有诸多益处，但已被证明是医生职业倦怠的一个原因。数据表明，门诊医学领域的女医生使用电子病历的时间比男医生长，不过在外科环境中尚未对此进行研究。本研究旨在分析单一机构中男、女整形外科医生的电子病历使用模式。
本研究纳入了单一机构的13名整形外科主治医生。从2021年12月至2022年12月从Epic系统中提取电子病历使用数据。提取的变量包括花在消息、预图表、记录、医嘱、收件篮功能上的时间，以及工作日期间和非工作日的总使用时间。进行了人口统计学分析，并使用单变量回归模型比较组间变量。
3名外科医生为女性，10名外科医生为男性。与男外科医生相比，女整形外科医生在电子病历中每条消息上花费的时间长18.9秒（P<0.05），使用收件篮功能的时间长5.52分钟（P<0.05）。此外，女外科医生在记录上多花费15.3分钟（P<0.05）。
女整形外科医生与患者和工作人员交流消息所花的时间明显更多，且在记录上花费的时间也比男同行更多。在我们的研究中，这些差异反映出每周在电子病历使用上多花费近2小时。由于与电子病历相关的工作量可能导致职业倦怠，机构可以与医生合作，了解在必要文档记录上花费的时间，并确定提高效率的方法。
