EHR Shortcuts for Physicians: Time-Saving Tricks for Epic, Cerner, and Athena

The average physician has used fewer than 20% of their EHR's time-saving features. Most of the shortcuts that matter most are buried in menus nobody has time to explore. Here they are.

Quick Reference: EHR Time-Savers by System

The Shortcuts That Save the Most Time

1. Build a dot-phrase library for your top diagnoses

This is the single highest-ROI EHR skill. A well-built SmartPhrase (Epic) or auto-text (Cerner) for your 20 most common diagnoses can reduce per-note time by 3–5 minutes each. At 20 patients a day, that's 60–100 minutes recovered before you've changed anything else.

2. Create order sets for your most frequent clinical scenarios

UTI, strep pharyngitis, uncomplicated cellulitis, seasonal allergy exacerbation — each of these has a predictable order set. Build it once. Every subsequent encounter with that diagnosis: one click, all orders placed. Your pharmacist, lab, and MA all get what they need without hunting.

3. Set up your preference lists for labs and medications

Epic's Preference Lists and Cerner's Favorites let you sort your most frequently ordered items to the top of search results. If you order a BMP 40 times a week, it should take one keystroke — not scrolling through an alphabetical list. Most physicians have never configured this. Budget 20 minutes once, save 20 minutes every week after.

4. Master the problem list — it does work for you

A well-maintained problem list auto-populates assessment sections, pre-populates ICD codes, and reduces the time spent typing the same chronic conditions into every note. Spending 5 minutes on a new patient's problem list setup saves time on every subsequent encounter. Most physicians' problem lists are a mess. Fix yours once.

5. Use In Basket / inbox pools to batch similar message types

Refill requests, lab result reviews, patient messages — each requires a different cognitive mode. Batching them by type instead of processing them chronologically reduces task-switching cost significantly. In Epic, set up pools. In Cerner, filter by message type. Prescription refills as a batch take 40% less time than the same number interspersed with other message types.

6. Configure your default note template

Your default note template should be pre-populated with the structure that works for your most common visit type. If you're a primary care physician, your default should look like a primary care follow-up, not a blank SOAP note. Most physicians open a blank template and rebuild the same structure every note. Set it up once and stop rebuilding it.

7. Learn the keyboard navigation shortcuts

Moving between note sections with keyboard shortcuts instead of mouse clicks adds up to significant time over a full clinic day. In Epic: F2 cycles through SmartPhrase fields. In most EHRs, Tab navigates fields. Ask your EHR trainer for the keyboard shortcut sheet — it exists and you've never seen it.

✓ Free: EHR Setup Priority Checklist

  • □ SmartPhrases / auto-text built for top 20 diagnoses
  • □ Order sets built for top 10 clinical scenarios
  • □ Lab preference list sorted by frequency
  • □ Medication preference list sorted by frequency
  • □ Problem list cleaned up and current for all active patients
  • □ Default note template configured for most common visit type
  • □ Inbox pools / filters configured by message type
  • □ Keyboard shortcut sheet printed and at desk
  • □ AI ambient scribe added to remove the documentation step entirely

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