title: Physicians' use of electronic medical records: barriers and solutions.
abstract: The electronic medical record (EMR) is an enabling technology that allows physician practices to pursue more powerful quality improvement programs than is possible with paper-based records. However, achieving quality improvement through EMR use is neither low-cost nor easy. Based on a qualitative study of physician practices that had implemented an EMR, we found that quality improvement depends heavily on physicians' use of the EMR-and not paper-for most of their daily tasks. We identified key barriers to physicians' use of EMRs. We then suggest policy interventions to overcome these barriers, including providing work/practice support systems, improving electronic clinical data exchange, and providing financial rewards for quality improvement.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health and Aging, University of California, San Francisco, USA. millerr@itsa.ucsf.edu
authors.forename: Robert H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Ida
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sim
mesh_terms: D001292:Attitude to Computers; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D014481:United States