Full Circle Healthcare: The Cognitive Burden of EHRs on Physicians and Staff 

EHRs are the backbone of healthcare digitization. However, they bring with them a cognitive burden for users. So, how can tech better align with its healthcare user? To discuss the challenges and opportunities, Full Circle Healthcare host Shelby Skrhak spoke with David Macfarlane, Marketing Communications Manager at Medsphere.

“The financial costs of introducing technology are one burden. What it’s asking of clinicians is another. We can all relate to this in some ways, as we all use computers,” Macfarlane said.

The belief that technology enables multi-tasking is, after all, a myth. Trying to do too many things at once usually means a person does none of them well. That’s the situation for most clinicians. Skrhak referenced a study that said 77% of clinicians identify documenting and charting in an EHR to be a source of cognitive overload. Distractions aren’t helpful to any situation, especially not in healthcare.

“Clinicians can be just as distracted by alerts and other things like anyone else, which can increase the likelihood of errors,” Macfarlane added.

While EHRs were supposed to deliver streamlined processes that boost efficiency and visibility, there’s still work to do. “In the last few years, the industry has acknowledged the process isn’t satisfactory for clinicians,” Macfarlane said.

Macfarlane noted the onus to fix this disconnect is on the technology companies. “Tech providers need to understand clinician workflows and environments to adapt the platforms to this. With small tweaks that reduce things like alert fatigue, we can meet users where they are.”

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Twitter – @MarketScale
Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Recent Episodes

Sterile processing teams are under constant pressure—handling growing surgical demands, working short-staffed, and navigating strict regulations—so getting every instrument tray assembled right the first time has never mattered more. Even a single assembly error can cascade into costly OR delays or, worse, compromise patient safety. Recent research highlights that most surgical instrument errors stem from…

Obstructive sleep apnea affects a whopping 30 million Americans, yet millions remain undiagnosed or abandon CPAP therapy due to its discomfort and inconvenience. Recent innovations in oral appliance therapy, however, are opening up new possibilities for patients seeking safe, effective, and lasting solutions. With sleep apnea linked to virtually every chronic disease—from heart disease to…

In this bonus Career Journeys episode of Care Anywhere: The Global Health Workforce Podcast, host Lea Sims, Chief Marketing Officer of TruMerit, welcomes Jose Arnold Tariga, Director of Clinical Education and Development at Insight Global Health and one of the Top 10 finalists for the prestigious Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award, selected from more…