title: Pharmacy workers' perceptions and acceptance of bar-coded medication technology in a pediatric hospital.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The safety benefits of bar-coded medication-dispensing and administration (BCMA) technology depend on its intended users favorably perceiving, accepting, and ultimately using the technology.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  (1) To describe pharmacy workers' perceptions and acceptance of a recently implemented BCMA system and (2) to model the relationship between perceptions and acceptance of BCMA.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians at a Midwest U.S. pediatric hospital were surveyed following the hospital's implementation of a BCMA system. Twenty-nine pharmacists' and 10 technicians' self-reported perceptions and acceptance of the BCMA system were analyzed, supplemented by qualitative observational and free-response survey data. Perception-acceptance associations were analyzed using structural models.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The BCMA system's perceived ease of use was rated low by pharmacists and moderate by pharmacy technicians. Both pharmacists and technicians perceived that the BCMA system was not useful for improving either personal job performance or patient care. Pharmacy workers perceived that individuals important to them encouraged BMCA use. Pharmacy workers generally intended to use BCMA but reported low satisfaction with the system. Perceptions explained 72% of the variance in intention to use BCMA and 79% of variance in satisfaction with BCMA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To promote their acceptance and use, BCMA and other technologies must be better designed and integrated into the clinical work system. Key steps to achieving better design and integration include measuring clinicians' acceptance and elucidating perceptions and other factors that shape acceptance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA. Richard.Holden@vanderbilt.edu
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Holden
authors.forename: Roger L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Matthew C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Scanlon
authors.forename: Ben-Tzion
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Karsh
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001292:Attitude to Computers; D016303:Clinical Pharmacy Information Systems; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D001330:Electronic Data Processing; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000517:prevention & control; D008875:Middle Aged; D061214:Patient Safety; D010465:Perception; D010595:Pharmacists / Q000523:psychology*; D010607:Pharmacy Service, Hospital; D010596:Pharmacy Technicians / Q000523:psychology*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014922:Wisconsin; D057188:Workflow; D055815:Young Adult