How physician electronic health record screen sharing affects patient and doctor non-verbal communication in primary care. Patient Educ Couns 2015 Mar;98(3):310-6
Date
12/24/2014Pubmed ID
25534022Pubmed Central ID
PMC4319541DOI
10.1016/j.pec.2014.11.024Scopus ID
2-s2.0-84921546386 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 61 CitationsAbstract
OBJECTIVE: Use of electronic health records (EHRs) in primary-care exam rooms changes the dynamics of patient-physician interaction. This study examines and compares doctor-patient non-verbal communication (eye-gaze patterns) during primary care encounters for three different screen/information sharing groups: (1) active information sharing, (2) passive information sharing, and (3) technology withdrawal.
METHODS: Researchers video recorded 100 primary-care visits and coded the direction and duration of doctor and patient gaze. Descriptive statistics compared the length of gaze patterns as a percentage of visit length. Lag sequential analysis determined whether physician eye-gaze influenced patient eye gaze, and vice versa, and examined variations across groups.
RESULTS: Significant differences were found in duration of gaze across groups. Lag sequential analysis found significant associations between several gaze patterns. Some, such as DGP-PGD ("doctor gaze patient" followed by "patient gaze doctor") were significant for all groups. Others, such DGT-PGU ("doctor gaze technology" followed by "patient gaze unknown") were unique to one group.
CONCLUSION: Some technology use styles (active information sharing) seem to create more patient engagement, while others (passive information sharing) lead to patient disengagement.
PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Doctors can engage patients in communication by using EHRs in the visits. EHR training and design should facilitate this.
Author List
Asan O, Young HN, Chewning B, Montague EMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdultCommunication
Cross-Sectional Studies
Electronic Health Records
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Nonverbal Communication
Office Visits
Physician-Patient Relations
Physicians
Practice Patterns, Physicians'
Primary Health Care
Quality Assurance, Health Care
Video Recording
