title: Informed decisions by clinicians are fundamental for EPR implementation.
abstract: Most often the investment in electronic patient records (EPR) is decided upon on the basis of descriptions of all the advantages this new technology will bring. We argue that an exchange of a paper-based patient record (PPR) with an EPR is an efficient way to automate manual routine work and distribute information but the real benefits from EPR depend on how clinicians use an EPR application to improve the quality of care. We introduce the 'price to pay' concept in order to illustrate that it takes a human effort to create better health care and that clinicians therefore play a very important role when implementing EPR systems.
authors.affiliation: Virtual Centre for Health Informatics, Aalborg University, DK-9220 Aalborg, Denmark. rolf.nikula@v-chi.dk
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Nikula
authors.forename: P B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Elberg
authors.forename: H B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Svedberg
mesh_terms: D003197:Computer Literacy; D006801:Humans; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized; D009042:Motivation; D009816:Office Automation; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D009626:Terminology as Topic