Experts

Doctors Wasting Their Time Doing Paperwork? A Closer Look Into The Situation

By Jenia Cane | Update Date: Sep 12, 2016 09:45 AM EDT

A new report has suggested that doctors have been wasting two-thirds of their time doing paperwork. What could have been the underlying reasons behind this situation?

Why do doctors allot so much time writing and preparing reports?

Let us then look closer into this particular condition wherein physicians have to put so much time and effort for paperwork.

According to Forbes, the amount of paperwork that doctors have to do, which has reached the notion that they are wasting just their time, is "out of control."

A study reportedly revealed that "Physicians spent 27% of their time in their offices seeing patients and 49.2% of their time doing paperwork, which includes using the electric health record (EHR) system."

Amid this situation, it was pointed out that there are four major reasons of this "overwhelming" task.

The people around them who need their expertise to arrive at a sound decision.

As emphasized by the report about doctors allegedly wasting their time, "You've got people in the administration, lawyers, insurance companies, etc., etc., all asking for information, which just produces more paperwork."

Doctors are not responsible for their paperwork's design.

Considering the fact that doctors do not have a hand on the design of the paperwork they need to do, it was noted that the one responsible for it "has little clue on how to make doctors' lives easier."

Doctors have no one to turn to in preparing the paperwork.

Along this line, the report dished that medical facilities, particularly hospitals and clinics, "do not seem to be investing in clerical and administrative support for doctors." Therefore, doctors have to do the paperwork by themselves.

The system continues.

According to the report, the system is not changing, or adjusting, to "accommodate" the physicians.

Amid these constraints, doctors may continue wasting time over paperwork rather than focus on more important matters concerning their patients.

Meanwhile, The Australian reported that the winner of the BlueChilli health tech innovation challenge, the Surgical Partners, has developed a software that will assist doctors.

Accordingly, this development presents a "myriad" of practice management systems.

"I'm here to turn the industry on its head, to completely change the cost base of the way health care is delivered," Marcus Wilson said about the software that is aimed at eliminating the disadvantages of doctors wasting their time on paperwork. 

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