P1509 - Enhancing Provider Well-Being Through Smart Phrase Libraries: A Quality Improvement Project

Maryam Mubashir, MBBS¹, Michelle Neice, MD¹, Kabir Husain, DO², Daniyal Raza, MBBS², Sudha Pandit, MD¹, Hassaan A. Zia, MD^1
1LSU Health, Shreveport, LA; ²Louisiana State University Health, Shreveport, LA

Introduction: Medical providers' well-being positively impacts patient safety-related quality metrics and institutional outcomes, also preventing burnout among physicians. However, time spent on clinical documentation for record-keeping, cost reimbursements, and medicolegal issues has been a significant barrier, especially affecting the provider-patient relationship. We conducted a quality improvement (QI) project by creating a standardized guideline-based smart phrase library for the EPIC electronic health record (EHR).

Methods: Pre- and post-intervention surveys were conducted using a free online survey app. Guidelines from ACG, AGA, ASGE, and UpToDate were used to build the smart phrase library, which providers incorporated into their personal set of smart phrases. The Chi-Square test determined the significance of the difference in documentation time before and after the intervention.

Results: Fourteen providers participated in this QI project. The frequent use of EPIC dot phrases significantly increased from 64.2% before to 85.7% after the introduction of the dot phrase library. Half of the providers initially took 10-20 minutes to complete clinical documentation in outpatient settings, including clinics and infusion centers. After the intervention, 36% still took more than 20 minutes, but a statistically significant improvement in outpatient documentation time was noted (p-value 0.015). Improvements in post-endoscopic and inpatient documentation were also observed but did not reach statistical significance. Before the intervention, providers had only basic dietary and lifestyle recommendations. After incorporating the smart phrase library, over 85% of providers felt confident with the majority of evidence-based dietary recommendations for various gastrointestinal and hepatology conditions. Additionally, 71.43% of providers reported that smart phrase use improved their well-being and reduced burnout.

Discussion: Efficient use of EHR, such as an inbuilt library of common diagnostic workups, clinical assessments, guideline-based management plans, and recommendations, can provide comprehensive, safe, and efficient patient care, improve inter-specialty communication, enhance reimbursements, and streamline the approval and prior authorization process. The time saved contributes to overall physician well-being and prevents burnout.


Disclosures:


Maryam Mubashir, MBBS¹, Michelle Neice, MD¹, Kabir Husain, DO², Daniyal Raza, MBBS², Sudha Pandit, MD¹, Hassaan A. Zia, MD¹. P1509 - Enhancing Provider Well-Being Through Smart Phrase Libraries: A Quality Improvement Project, ACG 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting Abstracts. Philadelphia, PA: American College of Gastroenterology.