How do we move Canada along more effectively in terms of the adoption and use of EMRs? This is the subject of a recent article published in the CMA Journal.
Canadian doctors lag far behind their counterparts in many other developed nations in adopting basic electronic medical records largely because the emphasis in Canada has been on “the big building blocks” of electronic health records, says Bill Pascal, chief technology officer for the Canadian Medical Association. “When you look at how far countries have moved towards a broader vision of electronic health information capability, Canada is not doing too badly,” Pascal says. Comparatively less attention has gone to promoting the uptake of electronic medical records in physician offices in Canada, he adds. The lack of financial incentives and support for physicians to make the transition from paper records is also an issue. Perhaps even more challenging than cost is the fact that “integration into workflow takes time, is likely to have a short term negative impact, and requires good change management practices to be successful,” says Khaled El Emam, associate professor at the University of Ottawa and Canada Research Chair in Electronic Health Information.
CMAJ: Canadian physicians playing "catch-up" in adopting electronic medical records
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