Assessing Physician and Nurse Satisfaction with an Ambulatory Care EMR: One Facility's Approach

Evaluating clinician satisfaction with an electronic medical record (EMR) system is an important dimension to overall acceptance and use, yet project managers often lack the time and resources to formally assess user satisfaction and solicit feedback. This article describes the methods used to assess clinician satisfaction with an EMR and identify opportunities for improving its use at a 300-physician academic practice setting. We administered an online survey to physicians and nurses; 244 (44%) responded. We compared physician and nurse mean ratings across 5 domains, and found physicians' satisfactions scores were statistically lower than nurses in several areas (p<.001). Participants identify EMR benefits and limitations, and offered specific recommendations for improving EMR use at this facility. Methods used in this study may be particularly useful to other organizations seeking a practical approach to evaluating EMR satisfaction and use.