Abstract
BackgroundPoorly functioning, time-consuming, and inadequate information systems are among the most important work-related psychosocial factors causing stress in physicians. The present study examined the trend in the perceived stress that was related to information systems (SRIS) among Finnish physicians during a nine-year follow-up. In addition, we examined the associations of gender, age, employment sector, specialization status, leadership position, on-call burden, and time pressure with SRIS change and levels.MethodsA longitudinal design with three survey data collection waves (2006, 2010 and 2015) based on a random sample of Finnish physicians in 2006 was used. The study sample included 1095 physicians (62.3% women, mean age 54.4 years) who provided data on SRIS in every wave. GLM repeated measures analyses were used to examine the associations between independent variables and the SRIS trend during the years 2006, 2010, and 2015.ResultsSRIS increased during the study period. The estimated marginal mean of SRIS in 2006 was 2.80 (95% CI = 2.68–2.92) and the mean increase was 0.46 (95% CI = 0.30–0.61) points from 2006 to 2010 and 0.25 (95% CI = 0.11–0.39) points from 2010 to 2015. Moreover, our results show that the increase was most pronounced in primary care, whereas in hospitals SRIS did not increase between 2010 and 2015. SRIS increased more among those in a leadership position. On-call duties and high time-pressures were associated with higher SRIS levels during all waves.ConclusionsChanging, difficult, and poorly functioning information systems (IS) are a prominent source of stress among Finnish physicians and this perceived stress continues to increase. Organizations should implement arrangements to ease stress stemming from IS especially for those with a high workload and on-call or leadership duties. To decrease IS-related stress, it would be important to study in more detail the main IS factors that contribute to SRIS. Earlier studies indicate that the usability and stability of information systems as well as end-user involvement in system development and work-procedure planning may be significant factors.
Highlights
Functioning, time-consuming, and inadequate information systems are among the most important work-related psychosocial factors causing stress in physicians
To decrease information systems (IS)-related stress, it would be important to study in more detail the main IS factors that contribute to stress that was related to information systems (SRIS)
The present study found that poorly functioning IS are a prominent source of stress among Finnish physicians and this stress continues to increase
Summary
Time-consuming, and inadequate information systems are among the most important work-related psychosocial factors causing stress in physicians. Poorly functioning, time-consuming, and inadequate information systems (IS) have emerged as one of the most stressing factors in physicians’ work [4, 5]. Poor EHR usability, time-consuming data entry, interference with face-to-face patient care, inability to exchange health information between health information systems (HIS), and impairments in clinical documentation have been found to be prominent sources of physicians’ professional dissatisfaction [11]. In a US study, the average screen gaze time of physicians ranged from 25% to 55% of the consultancy session, inevitably meaning less eye-contact and less conversation with the patient [13]. Physicians’ have been rated as having less effective communication when they spent more time looking at the computer and when there were more periods of silence in the consultation [16]
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