Electronic medical record (EMR) adoption in primary care has grown exponentially since their introduction in the 1970s. However, without their proper use benefits cannot be achieved. This includes: 1) the complete and safe documentation of patient information; 2) improved coordination of care; 3) reduced errors and 4) more involved patients. The use of EMRs is defined by practitioners using EMRs and their features to perform daily practice functions.
The purpose of this systematic review was to identify interventions aimed at improving EMR use in primary healthcare settings.
Ten online databases were searched to identify studies conducted in primary healthcare settings aimed at implementing interventions to observe the use of EMRs and directly measure the use of EMR functions or outcomes effected by the use of EMR functions.
Of 2098 identified studies, 12 were included in the review. Results showed that interventions focused on the use of EMR functions, including referrals, electronic communication, reminders, use of clinical decision support systems and workflow management support functions, were five times more likely to show improvements in EMR use compared with controls. Interventions focused on data quality were five and a half times more likely to show improvements in EMR use compared with controls.
Individuals in primary healthcare settings aiming to improve EMR use would benefit from implementing interventions focused on EMR feature add-ons such as clinical decision support systems and customised referral templates, and provisions of educational materials, or financial incentives targeted at improving the use of EMR functions and data quality.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 10. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 28 February 2020.
All research outputs
#3,692,198
of 25,932,719 outputs
Outputs from BMJ Health & Care Informatics
#97
of 505 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#72,813
of 366,573 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMJ Health & Care Informatics
#5
of 21 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,932,719 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 85th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 505 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 9.6. This one has done well, scoring higher than 80% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 366,573 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 80% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 21 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 76% of its contemporaries.
