Quick Quiz

Test your knowledge: What factors impact the clinician and administrative staff experience?

May 19, 2022

Q: Across specialties, how many hours per week does the median clinician spend in the EHR?

a.    11.5
b.    15.4
c.    21.5
d.    23.1

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A: C. 21.5 hours per week*

Coincidentally, the median clinician also completes 21.5% of their weekly EHR time outside of patient appointment hours —often referred to as “pajama time.”

Read “Clinician’s EHR usage is anything but uniform” to learn more


Q: Delegating an additional 10% of a specific EHR task(s) is associated with a reduction in the time clinicians spend documenting per patient and after hours. Which task(s) drives this trend?

a.    Encounter documentation
b.    Responding to patient portal messages
c.    Document processing
d.    A and C
e.    All of the above

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A: D. Encounter documentation and document processing.*

Delegating EHR work helps reduce the administrative burden for clinicians, but the impact varies by specialty.

Read “4 strategies to reduce documentation time” to learn more


Q: Clinician documentation time varies by geographic location. Which region of the U.S. spends the most time in the EHR relative to the number of patients seen?

a.    Southeast
b.    Northeast
c.    Midwest
d.    West

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A: B. Northeast*

Higher health literacy is among the reasons why clinicians in the Northeast have the highest time to patient ratio in the country.

Learn more about the top factors contributing to “pajama time” work


Q: When administrative staff feels they have the autonomy they need to do their job effectively, which of the following statements are they likely to agree with?

a.    I am often inspired to go above and beyond what is required.
b.    I will likely be working for my current organization three years from now.
c.    I would recommend my organization as a place to receive top-quality clinical care.
d.    All of the above

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A: D. All of the above**

Giving staff more autonomy can improve how they feel about the workplace — and increase retention.

Learn more about how the administrative staff experience is evolving


Q: What percentage of administrative staff believe that their use of technology enhances their relationship with patients?

a.    >75%
b.    60-75%
c.    45-60%
d.    30-45%

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A: A. 75%**

Administrative staff say technology makes it easier and safer to communicate with patients.

See what else is affecting healthcare administrative roles


* athenahealth Clinician EHR Time study 2022
** athenahealth Healthcare Workforce Enablement survey 2021