Dichotomy between physicians' and patients' attitudes regarding EMR use during outpatient encounters

Abstract

Detrimental effects on physician-patient rapport are an often-voiced concern regarding the impacts of implementing an EMR in busy outpatient healthcare environments. Our objectives in this study were to: 1) identify significant concerns of physicians regarding implementation of an EMR in an outpatient clinic, both prior to implementation and after 6 months of use, and 2) assess patients' satisfaction with their outpatient encounters in this clinic, including general and EMR-specific factors. For physicians, physician-patient rapport was a concern prior to EMR implementation and increased with use of the system. In contrast, patients did not indicate a sense of loss of rapport with their physicians when an EMR was used during their outpatient visits. However, physicians and patients shared a concern about the privacy of medical information contained in an EMR.