Physician-Centered EHR Satisfaction: A Literature-Driven Conceptual Usability Model

Despite the widespread adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems aimed at efficiently systemizing healthcare information, the demand continues to pose challenges, with ongoing reports of usability issues. This paper reviews recent literature on EHR usability factors, with a specific focus on research aimed at addressing several vital challenges associated with its usability and on understanding its impacts on physicians’ job satisfaction. The scoping review identifies relevant studies published in English between 2018 and 2026. The model was proposed after reviewing recent literature on factors and usability issues affecting physicians’ efficiency and satisfaction with EHR. The proposed conceptual model requires validation, and it may be used to assess physicians’ satisfaction with the use of EHR to realize benefits. Ongoing studies consistently indicate that usability issues frequently contribute to physicians’ dissatisfaction with EHR systems, impacting their workload and job satisfaction over time.

Electronic health records, physicians, usability, job satisfaction, healthcare

1. Abernethy, A., Adams, L., Barrett, M., Bechtel, C., Brennan, P., Butte, A., Faulkner, J., Fontaine, E., Friedhoff, S., Halamka, J., Howell, M., Johnson, K., Long, P., McGraw, D., Miller, R., Lee, P., Perlin, J., Rucker, D., Sandy, L., … Valdes, K. (2022). The Promise of Digital Health: Then, Now, and the Future. In NAM Perspectives. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Ala’a, A.-M., & Ramayah, T. (2023). Impact of Electronic Healthcare Records Usage on Healthcare Professionals’ Performance Among Jordanian Public Sector: A Conceptual Paper. International Journal of Business and Technology Management, 4(4), 129–143. https://doi.org/10.55057/ijbtm.2022.4.4.11 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Alami, J., Hammonds, C., Hensien, E., Khraibani, J., Borowitz, S., Hellems, M., & Riggs, S. L. (2022). Usability challenges with electronic health records (EHRs) during prerounding on pediatric inpatients. JAMIA Open, 5(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamiaopen/ooac018 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Alonazi, E. (2025). Challenges to Healthcare Professionals Regarding the Use of Electronic Health Records in PHCs. Journal of Clinical Practice and Medical Research, 1(3), 23–36. https://doi.org/10.59324/jcpmr.2025.1(3).05 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Alzghaibi, H. (2023). Usability of health IT for health and medical students: A systematic review. Informatics in Medicine Unlocked, 38(February), 101200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.imu.2023.101200 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Baumann, L. A., Baker, J., & Elshaug, A. G. (2018). The impact of electronic health record systems on clinical documentation times: A systematic review. Health Policy, 122(8), 827–836. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2018.05.014 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Bloom, B. M., Pott, J., Thomas, S., Gaunt, D. R., & Hughes, T. C. (2021). Usability of electronic health record systems in UK EDs. Emergency Medicine Journal, 38(6), 410–415. https://doi.org/10.1136/emermed-2020-210401 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Buivydaite, R., Reen, G., Kovalevica, T., Dodd, H., Hicks, I., Vincent, C., & Maughan, D. (2022). Correction to: Improving usability of Electronic Health Records in a UK Mental Health Setting: A Feasibility Study. Journal of Medical Systems, 46(9). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-022-01848-6 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Carayon, P., & Hoonakker, P. (2019). Human Factors and Usability for Health Information Technology: Old and New Challenges. Yearbook of Medical Informatics, 28(1), 71–77. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0039-1677907 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Dunn Lopez, K., Chin, C. L., Leitão Azevedo, R. F., Kaushik, V., Roy, B., Schuh, W., Banks, K., Sousa, V., & Morrow, D. (2021). Electronic health record usability and workload changes over time for provider and nursing staff following transition to new EHR. Applied Ergonomics, 93(December 2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2021.103359 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Gaspary, F. P., Amaral, D. B., Fagundes, C. V., Lopes, L. F. D., & Gaspary, J. F. P. (2026). A structured framework to improve usability in EHR implementation: a user-centered case study in Brazilian mental healthcare. Frontiers in Digital Health, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2025.1676631 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Hareem, A., Stupans, I., Park, J. S., Stevens, J. E., & Wang, K. (2024). Electronic health records and e-prescribing in Australia: An exploration of technological utilisation in Australian community pharmacies. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 187(May), 105472. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2024.105472 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Janett, R. S., & Yeracaris, P. P. (2020). Electronic medical records in the american health system: Challenges and lessons learned. Ciencia e Saude Coletiva, 25(4), 1293–1304. https://doi.org/10.1590/1413-81232020254.28922019 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Jimma, B. L., & Enyew, D. B. (2022). Barriers to the acceptance of electronic medical records from the perspective of physicians and nurses:A scoping review. Informatics in Medicine Unlocked, 31(June), 100991. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.imu.2022.100991 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Makhni, S., Cerrato, P., Rico, J., Niazi, S., O’Horo, J., Peters, S., Shah, V., & Halamka, J. (2026). Meeting the challenges of electronic health record (EHR) optimization. In npj Digital Medicine (Vol. 9, Number 1). Nature Research. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-025-02178-w [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Mazur, L. M., Mosaly, P. R., Moore, C., & Marks, L. (2019). Association of the Usability of Electronic Health Records With Cognitive Workload and Performance Levels Among Physicians. JAMA Network Open, 2(4), e191709. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.1709 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Melnick, E. R., Dyrbye, L. N., Sinsky, C. A., Trockel, M., West, C. P., Nedelec, L., Tutty, M. A., & Shanafelt, T. (2020). The Association Between Perceived Electronic Health Record Usability and Professional Burnout Among US Physicians. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 95(3), 476–487. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2019.09.024 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Nijor, S., Rallis, G., Lad, N., & Gokcen, E. (2022). Patient Safety Issues From Information Overload in Electronic Medical Records Background and Objective: Electronic health records (EHRs) have. J Patient Saf, 18(6), 999–1003. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Olakotan, O., Samuriwo, R., Ismaila, H., & Atiku, S. (2025). Usability Challenges in Electronic Health Records: Impact on Documentation Burden and Clinical Workflow: A Scoping Review. In Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice (Vol. 31, Number 4). John Wiley and Sons Inc. https://doi.org/10.1111/jep.70189 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. Peter Dey, P., Raj Sinha, B., Amin, M., & Badkoobehi, H. (2019). Best Practices for Improving User Interface Design. International Journal of Software Engineering & Applications, 10(5), 71–83. https://doi.org/10.5121/ijsea.2019.10505 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Ratwani, R. M., Savage, E., Will, A., Fong, A., Karavite, D., Muthu, N., Rivera, A. J., Gibson, C., Asmonga, D., Moscovitch, B., Grundmeier, R., & Rising, J. (2018). Identifying electronic health record usability and safety challenges in pediatric settings. Health Affairs, 37(11), 1752–1759. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2018.0699 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

22. Rizvi, R. F., Marquard, J. L., Hultman, G. M., Adam, T. J., Harder, K. A., & Melton, G. B. (2017). Usability evaluation of electronic health record system around clinical notes usage-an ethnographic study. Applied Clinical Informatics, 8(4), 1095–1105. https://doi.org/10.4338/ACI-2017-04-RA-0067 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

23. Salleh, M. I. M., Abdullah, R., & Zakaria, N. (2021). Evaluating the effects of electronic health records system adoption on the performance of Malaysian health care providers. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 21(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-021-01447-4 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

24. Tan, J., & Mukhriz, I. (2023). Challenges Arising From Digitalising Health Records. Khazanah Research Institute, (15/23 May), 1–9. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

25. Viitanen, J., Nisula, S., Tuovinen, T., & Lääveri, T. (2026). Improvements in EHR usability during eleven years: Cross-sectional surveys on specialist physicians’ experiences in Finland. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2026.106355 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

26. Woldemariam, M. T., & Jimma, W. (2023). Adoption of electronic health record systems to enhance the quality of healthcare in low-income countries: A systematic review. BMJ Health and Care Informatics, 30(1). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjhci-2022-100704 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

27. Wronikowska, M. W., Malycha, J., Morgan, L. J., Westgate, V., Petrinic, T., Young, J. D., & Watkinson, P. J. (2021). Systematic review of applied usability metrics within usability evaluation methods for hospital electronic healthcare record systems. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 27(6), 1403–1416. https://doi.org/10.1111/jep.13582 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

28. Yunus, M., Sakkinah, I. S., Rahmawati, U. E., Deharja, A., & Santi, M. W. (2023). Electronic Health Records (EHR) Usability and User Experience Evaluation: A Case Study. INTENSIF: Jurnal Ilmiah Penelitian Dan Penerapan Teknologi Sistem Informasi, 7(2), 192–201. https://doi.org/10.29407/intensif.v7i2.19090 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

29. Zainal, A., Aziz, N. F. A., Ahmad, N. A., Razak, F. H. A., Razali, F., Azmi, N. H., & Koyou, H. L. (2023). Usability measures used to enhance user experience in using digital health technology among elderly: a systematic review. Bulletin of Electrical Engineering and Informatics, 12(3), 1825–1832. https://doi.org/10.11591/eei.v12i3.4773 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

30. Zhang, S., & Song, J. (2023). An empirical investigation into the preferences of the elderly for user interface design in personal electronic health record systems. Frontiers in Digital Health, 5(January), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2023.1289904 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• Collaborative Processes, Frameworks, And Systems for Information Sharing in Cancer Case Management: A Scoping Review
• Development of a Long Short-Term Memory-Based Model for Early Detection of Prostatitis Using Synthetic Time-Series Clinical Data