Time Well Spent? Time Use for Health Information Management Across Home Care Roles: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study in Finland

Introduction: The growing number of older adults with multiple long-term conditions increases the need for better vertical integration of providers, especially in home care. Ensuring information continuity and care coordination is essential but remains time-consuming for home care professionals (HCPs).

Methodology: This study aimed to quantify HCPs’ time on health information management (HIM) and examine factors associated with this time use. We conducted an exploratory cross-sectional survey in four Finnish home care organizations. Respondents estimated weekly time use for five predefined tasks related to information retrieval, care coordination, and communication. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and multiple linear regression examined total HIM time variation.

Results: Based on 625 responses, HCPs averaged 258 minutes weekly on HIM tasks. On average, highest time use was reported by registered nurses (518 minutes) and physicians (336 minutes). Across measured tasks, the largest share of the total time was spent on information retrieval (32.0–46.5%). Profession and direct patient care were the only factors associated with time use, regardless of the region’s integration maturity.

Conclusion: HCPs spend substantial time managing care information. Our findings highlight the critical need for better-integrated systems to enhance care coordination, reduce administrative burden, and enable professionals to devote more time to direct care.