A qualitative investigation into clinical documentation: why do clinicians document the way they do?

Background: Clinical documentation is a fundamental component of patient care. The transition from paper based to electronic medical records/electronic health records has highlighted a number of issues associated with documentation practices including duplication. Developing new ways to document the care provided to patients and in turn, persuading clinicians to accept a change, must be supported by evidence that a change is required. In Australia, there has been a limited number of studies exploring the clinical documentation practices and beliefs of clinicians. Objective: To gain an in-depth understanding of clinician documentation practices. Method: A qualitative design using semi-structured interviews with clinicians (allied health professionals, doctors (physicians) and nurses) working in a tertiary-level hospital in South-East Queensland, Australia. Results: Several themes emerged from the data: environmental factors, including departmental policy and systemic issues, and personal factors, including verification, clinical reasoning and experience influencing documentation practices. Conclusion: Our study identified that the documentation practices of clinicians are complex, being driven by both environmental and systemic factors and personal factors. This in turn leads to duplication and some redundancy. The documentation burden of duplication could be reduced by changes in policy, supported by multidisciplinary documentation procedures and electronic systems aligned with clinician workflows, while retaining some flexible documentation practices. The documentation practices of individuals, when considered from the perspective of enhancing quality care, are considered legitimate and therefore will continue to form part of the health (medical) record regardless of the format.