Table 1

Timing of task before and after institution of electronic intensive care charts

	Task	Average time taken on paper chart (minutes)	Average time taken on electronic chart (minutes)	Time saved (minutes) per action	Minimum time saved (minutes)/patient/day*
	Daily tasks
Nursing	Creation of new daily ICU chart	11min16 s uninterrupted 26 interrupted	0	11	11
	Record set of observations	2 min 5 s	1 min 40 s	25 s	10
	Calculate input and output volumes	57 s	0	57 s	23
	Calculate cerebral perfusion pressure	5 s	0	Negligible	Negligible
	Calculate minute volume	5 s	0	Negligible	Negligible
Other staff	Ward clerks filing paper charts	Range 5–10 min	0	5	5
	Non-routine tasks
	Research study data collection	10–20 min/patient/day	0	10–20	10
	Retrieving notes for complaints	48 hours–several weeks	0	48 hours–several weeks	NA

*The recording of observations and calculation of input and output volumes are done at least once per hour, the total time spent on these tasks is recorded per day. Some tasks are only performed once a day.
ICU, intensive care unit; NA, not available.