A recent study published on July 23 in JAMA Network Open reveals that female surgeons spend more time documenting patient encounters and produce longer notes in electronic health record (EHR) systems compared to their male counterparts.
The study, led by Karen Malacon from Stanford University Medical Center, examined gender differences in EHR usage patterns among 224 attending surgeons, analyzing 222,529 patient encounters in outpatient settings throughout 2022.
The study found that male surgeons had a higher median number of appointments per month (78.3) and completed more medical records monthly (43.0) compared to female surgeons, who had a median of 57.8 appointments and 29.1 medical records completed.
Despite this, the overall median time spent in the EHR system per month was similar between genders, with male surgeons at 664.1 minutes and female surgeons at 635.0 minutes.
Notably, male surgeons logged into the EHR system more days per month (17.7 versus 15.7 days), but female surgeons spent significantly more time in the system outside of the standard 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. hours (36.4 versus 14.1 minutes/month) and outside of scheduled clinic hours (134.8 versus 105.2 minutes/month).
Furthermore, female surgeons spent more time per note (4.8 versus 2.5 minutes) and wrote longer notes for both inpatient (6,025.1 versus 4,307.7 characters/note) and outpatient encounters (6,321.1 versus 4,445.3 characters/note).
Adjusted models indicated that the male gender was associated with shorter documentation length for both overall and progress notes.
The study’s findings underscore significant differences in the EHR documentation practices between female and male surgeons, suggesting that female surgeons may face additional burdens that could contribute to burnout and payment disparities.
The authors emphasize the importance of understanding these differential burdens to address potential impacts on female surgeons’ professional experiences and well-being.
