CMAJ - Challenges of family practice: shopping for electronics

Aug 2, 2011

For many family physicians being pressed to adopt electronic medical records, the instinct is to probably run and hide. They don’t necessarily see the merits or value of moving health records online and when they do decide to take the electronic plunge, they soon find themselves mired in sales pitches and issues of cost, connectivity and software certification.

Prior to implementation, a family practice should map out how EMRs will change their work flow, and designate someone in the office for advance training and as the “go-to expert” when problems arise, Brookstone says. But he concedes that “the training is not standardized and it’s not as comprehensive as it could be and I think some vendors do a good job of it and other vendors don’t.”

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