News: Interns spend most of their time with the EHR, not patients or on education, study finds

First-year residents (interns) spend almost five times more hours on indirect patient care than on face-to-face patient care, according to the results of the iCOMPARE trial published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Internal Medicine. Most of that time—10 hours out of a 24-hour period—is spent working with EHRs, Medscape Medical News reported.

According to the study, an average 24-hour period for an intern would be spent in the following ways:

• Three hours on direct patient care
• Roughly two hours on education
  
  • Just under 16 hours on indirect patient care; including roughly 10 hours in the EHR
• Just under four hours multitasking between direct and indirect patient care

“Our study can help residency program leaders take stock of what their interns are doing and consider whether the time and processes are right for developing the physicians we need tomorrow,” said study author Krisda H. Chaiyachati, MD, MPH, MSHP, assistant professor of medicine, the Perelman School of Medicine, the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, in a news release.

Editor’s note: To read Medscape Medical News’ coverage of this story, click here. To read the full study and results, click here. To read about CDI education for hospital residents, read this article in the July/August 2017 edition of the CDI Journal.