An Investigation on the Barriers and Facilitators of the Implementation of Electronic Health Records (EHR)

Abstract

The application of technology in health care, in the form of electronic health records (EHR), is the most important and necessary issue in order to improve the quality of health care, and studies have shown that, not only is it a way to integrate information and represent the condition of patients, and a dynamic source for health care, however it leads to gain access to clinical information and records, electronic communications, comprehensive training and management, and ultimately enhancing the public health; the aim of this study is to investigate the factors influencing the implementation of EHR, which are known as barriers and facilitators. The research is conducted in the form of a review research, and with the help of the Keywords of EHR; barriers and facilitators, articles, from 2008 to 2013, were searched and studied in the Internet-databases. The results of the studies show that the most effective factors include: efficiency, motivation, management, and the participation of end users. Factors such as technical aspects ease of use, available resources, and human resources, have limited effects. And security and privacy, the expected output, lack of time, and workload have relative effects, and also the relation between the patient and clinical staff, has no effects in the process of implementing EHR.