Anticipated Use of EMR Functions and Physician Characteristics

Abstract

Despite the numerous purported benefits of Electronic Medical Records (EMR), medical practices have been extremely reluctant to embrace the technology. One of the barriers believed to be responsible for the slow adoption of EMR technology is resistance by many physicians who are not convinced of the usefulness of EMR systems. This study used a mail survey of physicians associated with a multi-specialty clinic to examine potential characteristics of physicians that might help identify those individuals that are most likely to pose a threat to the successful EMR implementation. Age and gender of the physicians was generally not associated with anticipated use. However, an analysis of variance indicated self-rated computer knowledge and area of medical specialty were highly related to expected use of EMR functions. Results indicating that anticipated use of various EMR functions depend on medical specialty denotes one of the many difficulties of developing EMR systems for multi-specialty clinics.