Electronic Health Record Acceptance by Physicians: A Single Hospital Experience in Daily Practice

Abstract

Introduction: Potential benefits of implementing an electronic health record (EHR) to increase the efficiency of health services and improve the quality of health care are often obstructed by the unwillingness of the users themselves to accept and use the available systems. Aim: The aim of this study was to identify factors that influence the acceptance of the use of an EHR by physicians in the daily practice of hospital health care. Material and Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted among physicians in the General Hospital Pancevo, Serbia. An anonymous questionnaire, developed according to the technology acceptance model (TAM), was used for the assessment of EHR acceptance. The response rate was 91%. Internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. A logistic regression analysis was used to identify the factors influencing the acceptance of the use of EHR. Results: The study population included 156 physicians. The mean age was 46.4 ± 10.4 years, 58.8% participants were female. Half of the respondents (50.1%) supported the use of EHR in comparison to paper patient records. In multivariate logistic regression modeling of social and technical factors, ease of use, usefulness, and attitudes towards use of EHR as determinants of the EHR acceptance, the following predictors were identified: use of a computer outside of the office for reading daily newspapers (p = 0.005), EHR providing a greater amount of valuable information (p = 0.007), improvement in the productivity by EHR use (p < 0.001), and a statement that using EHR is a good idea (p = 0.014). Overall the percentage of correct classifications in the model was 83.9%. Conclusion: In this research, determinants of the EHR acceptance were assessed in accordance with the TAM, providing an overall good model fit. Future research should attempt to add other constructs to the TAM in order to fully identify all determinants of physician acceptance of EHR in the complex environment of different health systems.

Tools supporting polypharmacy management in Italy: Factors determining digital technologies' intention to use in clinical practice

“…The lack of statistical significance concerning the output quality, could be related to the fact that not all the clinicians were aware of the INTERCheckWEB existence. In fact, this outcome is not consistent with other acceptance analysis conducted within the healthcare sectors, where one of the most important factors enhancing the adoption of DTs is represented by greater amount of valuable information generated 63 …”

“…In fact, this outcome is not consistent with other acceptance analysis conducted within the healthcare sectors, where one of the most important factors enhancing the adoption of DTs is represented by greater amount of valuable information generated. 63 No statistically significant differences were found, regarding the seniority of the respondents, thus demonstrating that no digital divide exists for this context. The same trend was found concerning Another topic for further research could be an evaluation of the economic gain related to a reduction in drugs prescribed, that could consequently reduce the economic burden of the management of a chronic and elder patient.…”