Difficulties Implementing an Electronic Medical Record for Diverse Healthcare Service Providers
Zachary Gillen,
Difficulties Implementing an Electronic Medical Record for Diverse Healthcare Service Providers,
School of Information, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, California, UCB iSchool Report 2007-009, March 2007
To mitigate rising healthcare costs and FFS (Fee for Service) charges, large healthcare organizations are beginning to restructure
their models for providing patient services. Many of these healthcare organizations have implemented an Electronic Medical
Record (EMR) to free the physical location of charts and automate business rules. This case study examines the failure of
a large metropolitan department of public health's (DPH) attempts to upgrade their EMR system. While political, technological
and economic barriers persist, the assumptions made by this proprietary EMR vendor did not reflect the diverse services provided
by the organization. As a result, the implementation failed after two years of effort. Vendors of EMR systems need to provide
flexibility with rules engines and user interface design to accommodate the changing landscape of healthcare as a service.
