title: Will the wave finally break? A brief view of the adoption of electronic medical records in the United States.
abstract: For over thirty years, there have been predictions that the widespread clinical use of computers was imminent. Yet the "wave" has never broken. In this article, two broad time periods are examined: the 1960's to the 1980's and the 1980's to the present. Technology immaturity, health administrator focus on financial systems, application "unfriendliness," and physician resistance were all barriers to acceptance during the early time period. Although these factors persist, changes in clinicians' economics, more computer literacy in the general population, and, most importantly, changes in government policies and increased support for clinical computing suggest that the wave may break in the next decade.
authors.affiliation: Health Informatics Program, Department of Health Services Administration, School of Health Related Professions, 1675 University Boulevard, Room 544, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294-3361, USA. eberner@uab.edu
authors.forename: Eta S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Berner
authors.forename: Don E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Detmer
authors.forename: Donald
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Simborg
mesh_terms: D003201:Computers / Q000266:history* / Q000639:trends; D006291:Health Policy / Q000639:trends; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized / Q000266:history / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D018581:Technology Transfer; D014481:United States