Too much time on the computer versus taking care of their living, breathing patients — this is taking its toll on the nation’s doctors, and it comes as no surprise to those who worried about this at the dawn of Obamacare.

“Burnout has been shown to erode quality of care, increase risk of medical errors, and lead physicians to reduce clinical work hours,” one researcher said.

A new national study of physicians led by the Mayo Clinic shows the growth and evolution of electronic health records (EHR) and computerized physician order entry leads to lower satisfaction on the job — as well as higher rates of professional burnout.

“Electronic health records hold great promise for enhancing coordination of care and improving quality of care,” said Tait Shanafelt, M.D., a Mayo Clinic physician and lead author of the study. “In their current form and implementation, however, they have had a number of unintended negative consequences including: reducing efficiency, increasing clerical burden, and increasing the risk of burnout for physicians.”

Collaborating with investigators from the American Medical Association, researchers from Mayo Clinic assembled a national sample of U.S. physicians using the AMA Physician Masterfile, a near-complete record of all U.S. physicians. The survey included instruments to assess burnout, as well as items developed specifically for the study to evaluate the electronic practice environment of the participating physicians.

The study found that physician satisfaction with clerical burden, electronic health records, and computerized physician order entry varied dramatically by specialty. Family medicine physicians, urologists, otolaryngologists, and neurologists were among the specialties with the lowest satisfaction with clerical burden.

The use of EHR and computerized physician order entry were associated with lower satisfaction with clerical burden and greater risk of burnout. An enormous amount of time doing patient data entry was most strongly associated with the risk of burnout.

Related: Dangers of Electronic Health Records in 2016

The study used data from 6,560 physicians in active clinical practice surveyed between August and October 2014.

“Although electronic health records, electronic prescribing, and computerized physician order entry have been touted as ways to improve quality of care, these tools also create clerical burden, cognitive burden, frequent interruptions, and distraction all of which can contribute to physician burnout,” Dr. Shanafelt said. “Burnout has been shown to erode quality of care, increase risk of medical errors, and lead physicians to reduce clinical work hours — suggesting that the net effect of these electronic tools on quality of care for the U.S. health care system is less clear.”

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While ongoing studies further investigate the issue and the impact, Dr. Shanafelt recommends that health care systems find better ways to incorporate EHR and the work that comes with them in a manner that does not increase clerical burden for physicians or reduce their efficiency.

In the meantime, others are celebrating the marriage of medicine and technology and taking it to a new level. Last week, Texas A&M University announced a new partnership with Houston Methodist Hospital — the two have designed a new career path that combines traditional medical school with engineering.

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The goal is to “educate a new kind of doctor, pending appropriate approvals, who will invent transformational technology for health care,” KBTX, a local news affiliate in College Station, reported.

Fifty physician engineers are scheduled to start classes in the fall of 2017 at the new Texas A&M University Engineering Medicine School (EnMed) at Houston Methodist Hospital. EnMed is designed to  “prepare professionals with the clinical skills to diagnose symptoms and treat patients, along with the engineering mindset to solve problems, invent new technologies, and rapidly move these innovative ideas to practice in patient care.”