I have two important questions regarding acceptance of EHR:
What are the new possible contributing factors influencing health providers (physicians, nurses, lab technologists, medical officers) to use and accept EHR systems in the developed and developing countries?
To what extend does the use of EHR predicts user performance and quality of healthcare service? Is it significant or not?
Some of the important factors which actually contribute to acceptance of EHR as well as any other electronic system is much covered in the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Perceived usefulness is interlinked with perceived ease of use and intention to use the system which ultimately leads to usage behaviors. This is especially important in the context of health care providers as professionals in health would rarely have time to learn a difficult system and they would be participating and contributing only if there is perceived benefit which will lead to positive outcomes in alleviating the work or increasing efficiency as well as leading to improvement in patient services. In developing countries much of EHR successful implementation will also depend on infrastructure (such internet connectivity) available.
the major influences for use of EHR by service providers is that institutional memory can be built which can later be used for analysis and insight. With the number of patients growing, alternative system does not offer any effective management. Moreover, Insurers believe that EHR will provide them with the basis for risk rating in the long run.
Also the service providers expect to get a lock-in from the customers by maintain the records , which makes understanding history becomes easy.
It my opinion it provides efficiency in the delivery system, significantly.