Medical Economics (12/10, Littrell) reports that a study “takes a close look at a simple but increasingly popular idea in physician practices: setting aside protected time during the workday for electronic health record (EHR) tasks.” In the study, “one ambulatory network reserved a dedicated appointment slot each half day for activities such as patient messaging, prescription refills and prior authorizations. Researchers tracked what happened to productivity, after-hours work and message volume over nearly three years.” Study “results suggest that small scheduling changes can have an outsized impact on physician workload. After-hours and weekend EHR time dropped quickly after protected time was introduced, while productivity took only a modest short-term dip and then stabilized.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.
Related Links:
— “Protected EHR time cuts after-hours work with little productivity loss, study finds,”Austin Littrell, Medical Economics, December 10, 2025