Strategies and Tools for electronic health records and physician workflow alignment: A scoping review protocol

Abstract

AbstractIntroductionThe rapid adoption of electronic health records (EHR) across the globe by the healthcare industry is an indication of the rising digitalization of healthcare functions. Despite the potential benefits of EHR, achieving a fit between physician workflow and EHR has posed a major challenge, with negative effects on physician wellbeing and patient outcomes. To this effect, organizations have attempted to align the EHR with physician workflow in various ways. It is important to understand the strategies and tools that have been employed and, where possible, the outcome of these engagements as a fundamental insight to resolving this issue.MethodologyThe study will employ a methodological framework developed by Arksey and O’Malley to strategically identify articles that use any type of concept for the alignment of physician workflow and EHR from Embase (OVID), MEDLINE (OVID), PubMed, CINAHL, and Scopus databases. It will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist to report findings. The articles will be extracted into the Covidence software, screened, and relevant data will be extracted from the selected articles. A qualitative thematic approach will be used to analyze the data. No ethical approval was sought because the data were collected from sources in the public domain.ResultThe scoping review is scheduled to be completed by April 2024. The results will be presented in tabular and narrative form and published in a reputable journal and through conference presentations.ConclusionThe outcome of the review aims to provide a systematic toolkit of activities and strategies and, where possible, the corresponding effectiveness that organizations can use to optimize EHR-to-physician workflow alignment. The outcome would also help make appropriate recommendations for alignment. Subsequently, it can improve patient outcomes such as the reduction of medication errors and improvement of patient-centered, improve physician well-being and reduce burnout.