Primary Care Physicians' Experience with Electronic Medical Records: Barriers to Implementation in a Fee-for-Service Environment

Table 1

Interview guide.

Interview questions for physician interviews
Sherwood Park - Strathcona County PCN
Interviewee(s):
Interviewer:
Date:
Interview questions	Notes of candidate’s answer	Interviewer’s guide to answers
How long have you been in practice?		[Years or Months]
How many physicians are currently practicing in your office?		[Number]
How many non-physician clinicians do you employ?		[Number]
How many staff/admin do you employ?		[Number]
Are you the practice owner/key decision maker? If not, what is your role?		[Yes/No]. [If no, partner, contracted, part time]
How many patients do you typically see in a day?		[Number]
What is your target interview duration?		[Minutes]
What sort of health records system do you currently use?		[paper; electronic, but paper used to record notes first followed by transcription; electronic, desktop in exam room; electronic, laptop carried into exam room]
Can you describe the role your health information system plays when you are interviewing a patient		[take paper based notes as I go, take e-based notes as I go, don’t take any notes in interview]
How long have you owned your EMR?		[Years or Months]
On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is poor and 5 is excellent, can you rate your computer skills (before and after the implementation)?		[1 to 5], [1 to 5]
When/where do you make your encounter notes?		[during interview in exam room, immediately after interview outside exam room door, at end of day either at the office or at home]
Prior to your current practice, what did you use for health information system to support your work?		[paper; electronic, but paper used to record notes first followed by transcription; electronic, desktop in exam room; electronic, laptop carried into exam room]
Can you describe the process you went through to buy your EMR? How did you gather market information?		[market scan, called vendors directly, talked to colleagues, talked to AMA/POSP/CPSA]
How did you select your EMR? What purchasing factors were most relevant to you?		[price, features, eligibility for financial support]
How did you install the EMR into your practice?		[big-bang, pilot, team-oriented integrative approach]
What do you use your EMR system for?		[Billing, scheduling, encounter note taking, lab results, order entry, contraindication management]
Where do you get your technical support?		[self, colleague, 3rd party]
What do you like/dislike about your current system?		—
Did you notice a change in your patient volumes after your implementation? If so, can you say what % age it dropped to and for how long? Why?		[%, months]
On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is completely dissatisfied and 5 is extremely satisfied, what would you say your overall satisfaction is with your system?		[1 to 5]
Knowing what you know now, would you still have bought the EMR? Why do you say that?		[yes/no]