Ctrl-C: A Cross-Sectional Study of the EHR Usage Patterns of US Oncology Clinicians.

Despite some positive impact, use of electronic health records (EHRs) has been associated with negative effects such as emotional exhaustion. We sought to compare EHR use patterns for oncology vs non-oncology medical specialists. In this cross-sectional study, we employed EHR usage data for 349 ambulatory healthcare systems nation-wide collected from the vendor Epic from January-August 2019. We compared note composition, message volume and time on the EHR for oncology vs non-oncology clinicians. As compared to non-oncology medical specialists, oncologists had a statistically significantly greater percentage of notes derived from Copy/Paste but had less SmartPhrase use. They received more total EHR messages per day than other medical specialists, with a higher proportion of results and system-generated messages. Our results point to priorities for enhancing the EHR to meet the needs of oncology clinicians, particularly as related to facilitating the complex documentation, results, and therapy involved in oncology care.