Table 3.
Comparisons of high-duration and low-duration users of the electronic health record–based inbox among primary care physicians in the Permanente Medical Group, 2018
| High-duration inbox users (n = 314) | Low-duration inbox users (n = 314) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physician characteristics | |||
| Age, y | 47.2 ± 8.5 | 46 ± 8.6 | .098 |
| Years since medical school graduation | 20.3 ± 9 | 18.2 ± 9.3 | .005 |
| Female, % | 62 | 50 | .003a |
| Workload | |||
| Workdays | 18.9 ± 3 | 18.8 ± 3 | .286 |
| FTE | 0.85 ± 0.1 | 0.85 ± 0.1 | .291 |
| Total number of patient encounters | 347.1 ± 82.7 | 311.7 ± 112.7 | <.001a |
| Number of face-to-face patient encounters | 247 ± 57 | 216 ± 68.8 | <.001a |
| Number of phone/video patient encounters | 100.1 ± 42.1 | 95.8 ± 66.8 | .005 |
| Patient panel characteristics | |||
| Patient age, y | 48.3 ± 5.9 | 44.8 ± 6.4 | <.001a |
| Patients older than 65 y, % | 21 ± 10% | 16 ± 9 | <.001a |
| Female, % | 54 ± 18 | 48 ± 18 | <.001a |
| Temporal patterns of inbox work | |||
| Ratio of after-hours inbox duration to total inbox duration on workdays, % | 41 ± 15 | 29 ± 16% | <.001a |
| After-hours inbox duration on workdays, min | 30.1 ± 13.1 | 9.7 ± 5.6 | <.001a |
| Inbox duration on nonworkdays, min | 16.7 ± 14.9 | 8.5 ± 10.5 | <.001a |
| Message view patterns | |||
| Message views per workday (including after hours) | 199.9 ± 42.1 | 108.8 ± 31.2 | <.001a |
| Time per message view, s | 22.3 ± 3.8 | 18.9 ± 3.7 | <.001a |
| Use of mobile devices | |||
| Duration of inbox work on mobile devices per workday, min | 12 ± 11.5 | 5 ± 5.8 | <.001a |
| % of all inbox time spent in mobile device use | 25 ± 18 | 23 ± 22 | .015 |
Values are mean ± SD, unless otherwise indicated.
FTE: full-time equivalent.
a
Significance of P < .003 based on the Bonferroni correction.