Quality Care, EHR Usability Top Factors Affecting Physician Satisfaction

Physicians who perceived themselves or their practices as providing high-quality care reported higher levels of professional satisfaction, states Factors Affecting Physician Professional Satisfaction and Their Implications for Patient Care, Health Systems, and Health Policy,a recently published report detailing a study conducted by the RAND Corporation. Funded by the American Medical Association, the study used a combination of surveys and semistructured interviews to gather data from 30 physician practices in six states with the goal of identifying and characterizing high-priority factors of professional satisfaction that can be targeted within a variety of physician practice types. Although the participating physicians indicated that they approved of electronic health record (EHR) systems in concept and appreciated having better ability to remotely access patient information and track improvements in quality of care, for many physicians, the current state of EHR technology significantly worsened professional satisfaction in several ways.