Assessment of Time Spent by Doctors on Medical Documentation- Initial Analysis and Preliminary Study

The aim of the article is evaluation of time needed to spend on filling medical records by Polish surgeons. An anonymous questionnaire concerning time needed to spend on creating particular parts of medical documentation affecting one patient was filled by 80 doctors (40 specialists and 40 residents). 100% of respondents stated that the time spent on medical records is excessive. In the whole study the group time spent on records of one patient was as follows: without patterns and medical secretary 75.62 min (SD 7,4), with patterns – 53.3 min (SD 6.8), with help of medical secretary 36.72 min (SD 5.1). Results in the resident group were as follows: without patterns and medical secretary 110 min (SD 12.4), with patterns – 69.87 min (SD 9.4), with help of medical secretary 46.15 min (SD 6.5). In conclusion, taking legal, formal and logistics measures, could help to reduce the time spent on administrative procedures while generating medical documentation.