The Journal of family practice
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Few studies have quantitatively examined the degree to which the use of the computer affects patients' satisfaction with the clinician and the quality of the visit. We conducted a study to examine this association. ⋯ Higher clinician gaze time at the patient predicted greater patient satisfaction. This suggests that clinicians would be well served to refine their multitasking skills so that they communicate in a patient-centered manner while performing necessary computer-related tasks. These findings also have important implications for clinical training with respect to using an electronic health record (EHR) system in ways that do not impede the one-on-one conversation between clinician and patient.