Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Dec;61(12):1076-84.

Progress in electronic medical record adoption in Canada

Feng Chang, Nishi Gupta

Progress in electronic medical record adoption in Canada

Feng Chang et al. Can Fam Physician. 2015 Dec.

Abstract
in English, French

Objective: To determine the rate of adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs) by physicians across Canada, provincial incentives, and perceived benefits of and barriers to EMR adoption.

Data sources: Data on EMR adoption in Canada were collected from CINAHL, MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, the Health Council of Canada, Canada Health Infoway, government websites, regional EMR associations, and health professional association websites.

Study selection: After removal of duplicate articles, 236 documents were found matching the original search. After using the filter Canada, 12 documents remained. Additional documents were obtained from each province's EMR website and from the Canada Health Infoway website.

Synthesis: Since 2006, Canadian EMR adoption rates have increased from about 20% of practitioners to an estimated 62% of practitioners in 2013, with substantial regional disparities ranging from roughly 40% of physicians in New Brunswick and Quebec to more than 75% of physicians in Alberta. Provincial incentives vary widely but appear to have only a weak relationship with the rate of adoption. Many adopters use only a fraction of their software's available functions. User-cited benefits to adoption include time savings, improved record keeping, heightened patient safety, and confidence in retrieved data when EMRs are used efficiently. Barriers to adoption include financial and time constraints, lack of knowledgeable support personnel, and lack of interoperability with hospital and pharmacy systems.

Conclusion: Canadian physicians remain at the stage of EMR adoption. Progression in EMR use requires experienced, knowledgeable technical support during implementation, and financial support for the transcription of patient data from paper to electronic media. The interoperability of EMR offerings for hospitals, pharmacies, and clinics is the rate-limiting factor in achieving a unified EMR solution for Canada.

Objectif: Déterminer le taux d’adoption par les médecins canadiens du dossier médical électronique (DME), les mesures incitatives provinciales, mais aussi les avantages perçus au DME et les obstacles qui ralentissent son adoption.

Sources des données: Les données concernant l’adoption du DME au Canada proviennent des bases de données CINAHL, MEDLINE, PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, du Conseil canadien de la santé, de l’Inforoute Santé du Canada, de sites Web du gouvernement, d’associations régionales pour le DME et de sites Web d’associations de professionnels de la santé.

Choix des études: Après avoir éliminé les duplicatas d’articles, on a retenu 236 documents qui correspondaient à la recherche initiale. Après utilisation du filtre Canada, il en restait 12. Des documents additionnels ont été tirés des sites Web traitant du DME de chacune des provinces et de celui de l’Inforoute Santé du Canada.

Synthèse: Depuis 2006, le taux d’adoption du DME par les médecins canadiens a augmenté, passant d’environ 20 % à environ 62 % en 2013, avec toutefois des disparités régionales importantes, les taux variant entre environ 40 % au Nouveau-Brunswick et au Québec, et plus de 75 % en Alberta. Les mesures incitatives provinciales varient considérablement, mais semblent n’avoir qu’une faible relation avec le taux d’adoption. Plusieurs de ceux qui adoptent le DME n’utilisent qu’une fraction des fonctions disponibles de leur logiciel. Parmi les avantages du DME que mentionnent les utilisateurs, citons les gains de temps, une meilleure conservation des dossiers, une sécurité améliorée pour le patient et une meilleure confiance dans les données lorsque le DME est utilisé correctement. Les facteurs qui ralentissent l’adoption du DME incluent les contraintes de temps et de financement, le peu d’appui d’un personnel compétent et le manque d’interopérabilité avec les systèmes existant dans les hôpitaux et les pharmacies.

Conclusion: Au Canada, les médecins en sont encore au stade de l’adoption du DME. La progression dans l’utilisation du DME requiert un soutien technique expérimenté et compétent durant la période d’adoption et un soutien financier pour la transcription des données du papier au support électronique. Enfin, l’interopérabilité du DME avec les hôpitaux, les pharmacies et les cliniques est le facteur principal qui limite l’atteinte d’une solution uniforme pour l’ensemble du Canada.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Rates of EMR adoption by province in Canada AB—Alberta, BC—British Columbia, EMR—electronic medical record, MB—Manitoba, NB—New Brunswick, NL—Newfoundland and Labrador, NPS—National Physician Survey, NS—Nova Scotia, ON—Ontario, PE—Prince Edward Island, QC—Quebec, SK—Saskatchewan. *The provincial response rates to the Commonwealth Fund survey ranged from a low of 2% of physicians in ON (n=488) and BC (n=147) to a high of 15% of physicians in NL (n=161). †The provincial response rates to the NPS ranged from a low of 16% of physicians in QC (n=1534) to a high of 23% of physicians in NS (n=494). Data from Schoen et al, the NPS, and various regional EMR organizations.–
Figure 2
Figure 2
Level of provincial funding and adoption of EMRs EMR—electronic medical record, NPS—National Physician Survey. Data from the NPS and various regional EMR organizations.–
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Canada Health Infoway The emerging benefits of electronic medical record use in community-based care. Toronto, ON: Health Canada Infoway; 2013. Available from: https://www.infoway-inforoute.ca/en/component/edocman/1225-the-emerging-... Accessed 2015 Oct 27.
    1. Häyrinen K, Saranto K, Nykanen P. Definition, structure, content, use and impacts of electronic health records: a review of the research literature. Int J Med Inform 2008;77(5):291–304. Epub 2007 Oct 22. - PubMed
    1. Canada Health Infoway EMR, EHR, and PHR—why all the confusion? Toronto, ON: Health Canada Infoway; 2013. Available from: http://infowayconnects.infoway-inforoute.ca/2011/04/07/emr-ehr-and-phr-w... Accessed 2015 Oct 27.
    1. Buntin MB, Jain SH, Blumenthal D. Health information technology: laying the infrastructure for national health reform. Health Aff (Millwood) 2010;29(6):1214–9. - PubMed
    1. Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Defining and testing EMR usability: principles and proposed methods of EMR usability evaluation and rating. Chicago, IL: Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society; 2013. Available from: www.himss.org/ResourceLibrary/GenResourceDetail.aspx?ItemNumber=39192 Accessed 2015 Oct 27.

LinkOut - more resources