title: Factors associated with difficult electronic health record implementation in office practice.
abstract: Little is known about physicians' perception of the ease or difficulty of implementing electronic health records (EHR). This study identified factors related to the perceived difficulty of implementing EHR. 163 physicians completed surveys before and after the implementation of EHR in an externally funded pilot program in three Massachusetts communities. Ordinal hierarchical logistic regression was used to identify baseline factors that correlated with physicians' report of difficulty with EHR implementation. Compared with physicians with ownership stake in their practices, physician employees were less likely to describe EHR implementation as difficult (adjusted OR 0.5, 95% CI 0.3 to 1.0). Physicians who perceived their staff to be innovative were also less likely to view EHR implementation as difficult (adjusted OR 0.4, 95% CI 0.2 to 0.8). Physicians who own their practice may need more external support for EHR implementation than those who do not. Innovative clinical support staff may ease the EHR implementation process and contribute to its success.
authors.affiliation: Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Section of General Internal Medicine, 801 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd Floor, Boston, MA 02118, USA. marshall.fleurant@bmc.org
authors.forename: Marshall
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fleurant
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kell
authors.forename: Chelsea
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jenter
authors.forename: Lynn A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Volk
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Bates
authors.forename: Steven R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Simon
mesh_terms: D000555:Ambulatory Care Information Systems; D001292:Attitude to Computers; D057286:Electronic Health Records; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006284:Health Plan Implementation; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008404:Massachusetts; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'