Quantifying EHR and Policy Factors Associated with the Gender Productivity Gap in Ambulatory, General Internal Medicine

Background: The gender gap in physician compensation has persisted for decades. Little is known about how differences in use of the electronic health record (EHR) may contribute.Objective: To characterize how time on clinical activities, time on the EHR, and clinical productivity vary by physician gender and to identify factors associated with physician productivity.Design, setting, and participants: This longitudinal study included general internal medicine physicians employed by a large ambulatory practice network in the Northeastern United States from August 2018 to June 2021.Main measures: Monthly data on physician work relative value units (wRVUs), physician and practice characteristics, metrics of EHR use and note content, and temporal trend variables.Key results: The analysis included 3227 physician-months of data for 108 physicians (44% women). Compared with men physicians, women physicians generated 23.8% fewer wRVUs per month, completed 22.1% fewer visits per month, spent 4.0 more minutes/visit and 8.72 more minutes on the EHR per hour worked (all p < 0.001), and typed or dictated 36.4% more note characters per note (p = 0.006). With multivariable adjustment for physician age, practice characteristics, EHR use, and temporal trends, physician gender was no longer associated with productivity (men 4.20 vs. women 3.88 wRVUs/hour, p = 0.31). Typing/dictating fewer characters per note, relying on greater teamwork to manage orders, and spending less time on documentation were associated with higher wRVUs/hour. The 2021 E/M code change was associated with higher wRVUs/hour for all physicians: 10% higher for men physicians and 18% higher for women physicians (p < 0.001 and p = 0.009, respectively).Conclusions: Increased team support, briefer documentation, and the 2021 E/M code change were associated with higher physician productivity. The E/M code change may have preferentially benefited women physicians by incentivizing time-intensive activities such as medical decision-making, preventive care discussion, and patient counseling that women physicians have historically spent more time performing.

Automated summary

This study aimed to understand the impact of physician gender on clinical activities and EHR use, and found that women physicians generated fewer wRVUs per month, had fewer visits per month, spent more time on the EHR, and had a difference in note characters. However, after adjusting for multiple variables, physician gender was no longer associated with productivity. Increased team support, briefer documentation, and the 2021 E/M code change were associated with higher physician productivity.