--- title: "MDs split time evenly between seeing pts and desktop med. | Sutter Health" description: "MDs logged avg. of 3.08 hrs on office visits & 3.17 hrs on desktop medicine daily. Desktop med includes pt and staff emails, Rx refills, test orders and review." url: "https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications/mds-split-time-evenly-see-pts-desktop-med-1055312310" --- 1. [Home](https://www.sutterhealth.org/) / 2. [Research](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research) / 3. [Research publications](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications) / 4. MDs split time evenly between seeing pts and desktop med. # Electronic health record logs indicate that physicians split time evenly between seeing patients and desktop medicine. Tai-Seale M, Olson CW, Li J, Chan AS, Morikawa C, Durbin M, Wang W, & Luft HS. _Health Aff. 36:655-662; doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2016.0811._ 2017-04-01 ## Abstract Time spent by physicians is a key resource in health care delivery. This study used data captured by the access time stamp functionality of an electronic health record (EHR) to examine physician work effort. This is a potentially powerful, yet unobtrusive, way to study physicians’ use of time. We used data on physicians’ time allocation patterns captured by over thirty-one million EHR transactions in the period 2011–14 recorded by 471 primary care physicians, who collectively worked on 765,129 patients’ EHRs. Our results suggest that the physicians logged an average of 3.08 hours on office visits and 3.17 hours on desktop medicine each day. Desktop medicine consists of activities such as communicating with patients through a secure patient portal, responding to patients’ online requests for prescription refills or medical advice, ordering tests, sending staff messages, and reviewing test results. Over time, log records from physicians showed a decline in the time allocated to face-to-face visits, accompanied by an increase in time allocated to desktop medicine. Staffing and scheduling in the physician’s office, as well as provider payment models for primary care practice, should account for these desktop medicine efforts. [PubMed abstract](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28373331/) ## Research topics - [Health Policy](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research-search-results?query=%22%5C%22Health+Policy%5C%22%22) - [Health Services](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research-search-results?query=%22%5C%22Health+Services%5C%22%22) - [Medical Informatics](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research-search-results?query=%22%5C%22Medical+Informatics%5C%22%22) ## Related publications [View all publications](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research-search-results?verticalKey=research_publication) - Publication ### [When does adoption of health information technology by physician practices lead to use by physicians within the practice?](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications/adoption-and-use-of-health-it-by-physicians-1055312889) McClellan SR, Casalino LP, Shortell SM, Rittenhouse DR. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 20(e1):e26-32. doi: 10.1136/amiajnl-2012-001271. Epub 2013 Feb 8. 2013 Jun 01 - Publication ### [A clinician's guide to privacy and communication in the ICU.](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications/clinician-privacy-communication-icu-1055312509) Francis L, Vorwaller MA, Aboumatar H, Frosch DL, Halamka J, Rozenblum R, Rubin E, Lee BS, Sugarman J, Turner K, Brown SM; Privacy, Access, and Engagement Task Force of the Libretto Consortium of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Crit Care Med. \[Epub ahead of print\] 2016 Dec 02 - Publication ### [The effect of Paragraph IV decisions and generic entry before patent expiration on brand pharmaceutical firms.](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications/effect-paragraph-iv-generics-brand-pharma-1055312883) Panattoni LE. J Health Econ. 30(1):126-45. doi: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2010.09.004. Epub 2010 Oct 8. 2011 Jan 01 - Publication ### [Patient experiences in selecting a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan.](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications/pt-experiences-selecting-medicare-part-d-rx-drug-plan-1055312300) Stults CD, Baskin AS, Bundorf MK, Tai-Seale M. J Patient Experience. https://doi.org/10.1177/2374373517739413 2017 Nov 21 - Publication ### [Medicare annual preventive care visits: use increased among fee-for-service patients, but many do not participate.](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications/medicare-preventive-care-in-fee-for-svce-pts-1055312874) Chung S, Lesser LI, Lauderdale DS, Johns NE, Palaniappan LP, Luft HS. Health Aff (Millwood). 34(1):11-20. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2014.0483. 2015 Jan 01 [View all publications](https://www.sutterhealth.org/research-search-results?verticalKey=research_publication) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"MedicalOrganization","name":"Sutter Health","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/#medicalorganization","url":"https://www.sutterhealth.org","logo":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/static/images/sutter-health-logo.svg","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","streetAddress":"2200 River Plaza Drive","addressLocality":"Sacramento","addressRegion":"CA","postalCode":"95833","addressCountry":"US"},"areaServed":{"@type":"AdministrativeArea","name":"California"},"sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/SutterHealth","https://www.instagram.com/sutterhealth/","https://x.com/SutterHealth","https://www.youtube.com/sutterhealth","https://www.linkedin.com/company/sutter-health","https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutter_Health"]} ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications/mds-split-time-evenly-see-pts-desktop-med-1055312310#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Research","item":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/research"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Research publications","item":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"MDs split time evenly between seeing pts and desktop med."}]} ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"MedicalScholarlyArticle","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/research/publications/mds-split-time-evenly-see-pts-desktop-med-1055312310#medicalscholarlyarticle","name":"Electronic health record logs indicate that physicians split time evenly between seeing patients and desktop medicine.","headline":"MDs split time evenly between seeing pts and desktop med.","abstract":"Time spent by physicians is a key resource in health care delivery. This study used data captured by the access time stamp functionality of an electronic health record (EHR) to examine physician work effort. This is a potentially powerful, yet unobtrusive, way to study physicians’ use of time. We used data on physicians’ time allocation patterns captured by over thirty-one million EHR transactions in the period 2011–14 recorded by 471 primary care physicians, who collectively worked on 765,129 patients’ EHRs. Our results suggest that the physicians logged an average of 3.08 hours on office visits and 3.17 hours on desktop medicine each day. Desktop medicine consists of activities such as communicating with patients through a secure patient portal, responding to patients’ online requests for prescription refills or medical advice, ordering tests, sending staff messages, and reviewing test results. 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