Widespread adoption of information technology in primary care physician offices in Denmark: a case study.
Denmark is one of the world's leading countries in the use of health care technology. Virtually all primary care physicians have electronic medical records with full clinical functionality. Their systems are also connected to a national network, which allows them to electronically send and receive clinical data to and from consultant specialists, hospitals, pharmacies, and other health care providers. Under the auspices of a nonprofit organization called MedCom, over 5 million clinical messages are transferred monthly. One of the most important innovations has been the "one-letter solution," which allows one electronic form to be used for all types of letters to and from primary care physicians; it is used in over 5,000 health institutions with 50 different technology vendor systems.
Protti
Denis
D
Health Information Science, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. dprotti@uvic.ca
Johansen
Ib
I
D003195:Computer Communication Networks / Q000458:organization & administration; D016494:Computer Security; D003718:Denmark; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D034742:Electronic Mail / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008490:Medical Informatics / Q000266:history / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D010821:Physicians, Family; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D018907:Privacy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence