Electronic health records implementation slower than expected

Electronic health records are taking longer to implement than expected

A study looking into the implementation and adoption of electronic health records recently published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), has found that hospital electronic health record applications are being developed and implemented far more slowly than was originally envisioned.

However, support for the records from the medical community remains strong, with most respondents believing that the project will deliver valuable benefits if implemented correctly.

Hospital staff from five NHS acute hospital and mental health trusts were interviewed as part of the study. One respondent said: “I think implementing electronic health records will be a major improvement [on the current system]. [Managing] patients’ notes, appointments, work scheduling, prescribing and ordering tests, is clumsy in a paper world.”

However, many people said they were concerned that the economic climate and government's austerity plans could adversely affect the implementation.

An IT manager at one of the sites said: "[Scrapping the programme would be] a horrendous waste of money... it would be a crime."

The study also stated that trusts want the power to individually tailor the records to their own requirements, rather than be required to conform to a central mandate. An administration director at one of the sites said: "I understand they’re trying to put in a national product, but does one size fit all? I’m afraid it doesn’t."

The study concluded that neither a top-down approach (where the records are defined centrally) nor a bottom-up approach (where existing local systems are preserved) would be the best implementation method. Instead it recommended a " middle-out" system, which it said would "combine support for national goals and common standards with incentives to encourage incremental compliance with standards at the local level".

The study was conducted by researchers from four British universities.