A majority of clinicians continue to rely on manual workarounds and spend significant time on avoidable digital tasks despite widespread adoption of healthcare technology, according to a July 14 survey from Black Book Research.
The survey included 1,919 clinicians with direct EHR or digital workflow experience during the previous 90 days, including nurses, physicians, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, laboratory professionals, imaging clinicians, rehabilitation therapists and dietitians. Black Book said the findings reflect self-reported clinician experiences and were collected independently of EHR vendors, consulting firms, payers, provider organizations and technology suppliers.
The findings are based on a nine-month study examining whether healthcare technology removes work from clinicians after implementation rather than simply measuring adoption or activation.
Here are 13 key findings from the survey:
- In total, 80.7% of surveyed clinicians use at least one workaround every day, while 65.2% said they lose 30 minutes or more per day or shift to avoidable digital work.
- Respondents reported repeatedly re-entering information, reconciling outside records, monitoring disconnected queues, checking payer portals and maintaining unofficial notes or task lists.
- Seventy-one percent of clinicians said they re-enter information already documented elsewhere.
- Sixty-four percent reported copying or carrying information forward for documentation or billing requirements.
- Sixty-one percent use side notes, scratch pads or unofficial task lists.
- Fifty-six percent manually track laboratory results, imaging, referrals or authorizations.
- Forty-nine percent check payer portals outside the clinical workflow.
- Forty-two percent manually reconcile outside records or medication lists.
- The report also examined AI adoption. More than half of respondents, 55.7%, said they had been exposed to at least one AI-enabled clinical workflow. Among the 1,069 clinicians currently using AI, however, only 19% said the technology delivers meaningful net labor reduction, while 46% said AI saves time during one part of a task but adds review, correction or validation work elsewhere, according to the report.
- The survey also identified payer requirements and patient messaging as significant contributors to clinician workload. Sixty percent of respondents said payer requirements interrupt care delivery at least weekly, while 49% said they check payer status outside the EHR. Nearly half, 47%, reported modifying clinical documentation to meet medical necessity requirements.
- In addition, 63.9% of respondents said patient portal or inbox demand is growing faster than staffing, triage processes, compensation models or automation support, and 52% said patient messages create after-hours work at least weekly, according to the report.
- Among the 1,154 nurses surveyed, 72% said EHR documentation sequences do not match the way nursing work unfolds during a shift, and 68% reported completing duplicate flowsheet or care-plan documentation at least weekly. The report recommends involving bedside nurses directly in the design and implementation of nursing documentation and AI tools.
- Overall, 55.9% of respondents said they use at least one paid digital tool that adds screens, queues, messages or review requirements without clearly removing a frontline task.
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