Factors that physicians find encouraging and discouraging about electronic prescribing: a quantitative study.
To determine factors that physicians find encouraging and discouraging about e-prescribing and to compare these factors based on physicians' adoption status, a cross-sectional study was conducted using an internet-based survey administered to a national convenience sample of primary care physicians. A scale was developed to measure factors related to the adoption of e-prescribing. Analysis procedures included exploratory factor analysis, multivariate analysis of variance, and Tukey's post-hoc tests. 443 surveys were received and seven e-prescribing factors were identified. Pre-implementation and cost factors were found to be most discouraging, while software features were found to be most encouraging. The fact that current e-prescribers found e-prescribing factors to be more encouraging than future or non-e-prescribers suggests that 'fear of the unknown' may play a role in prescribers' perceptions of e-prescribing and associated software. These findings will enable consultants, vendors, and policymakers to facilitate the adoption of e-prescribing by directly targeting the factors that are most salient to physicians.
Department of Pharmacy Administration, The University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, University, Mississippi 38677, USA. kjariwal@go.olemiss.edu
Krutika S
KS
Jariwala
Erin R
ER
Holmes
Benjamin F
BF
Banahan
David J
DJ
McCaffrey
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D055695:Electronic Prescribing / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D050316:Medical Order Entry Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D058007:Physicians, Primary Care; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D025341:Principal Component Analysis
electronic prescribing; encouraging and discouraging factors; primary care physicians; quantitative study