Physicians' perception about electronic medical record system in Makkah Region, Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVES: The study was done to determine the physicians' perception about electronic medical record system (EMRS) in the context of its productivity in order to improve its functionality and advantages. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional survey was performed from July to August 2009 with structured questionnaire of 15 closed-ended questions with five points Likert scaling starting from strongly disagree to strongly agree as 1–5, reflecting the perception of physicians about EMRS. The physicians of the Makkah region working in six different hospitals were selected. “Positive” response means if percent of responses were rated 4 or 5 (agree/strongly agree), “neutral” if rated 3, and negative if rated 1 or 2 (strongly disagree/disagree). Descriptive data analysis techniques were used. RESULTS: We selected 317 completed questionnaires. Majority of subjects were from King Fahd Hospital, Jeddah (83, 26.3%), residents (147, 46.4%), male (200,63.1%), expatriates (207, 65%), and age group 36–45 years (133, 42%) were dominant. The stem regarding importance of computers for practicing medicine and EMRS to improve quality of practice was appreciated by majority, that is, 77.7 and 71.2%, respectively. However, “It does not disrupt the workflow” (35.1%) and “EMRS is comfortable while entering the data instead of writing” (34.8%) were appreciated negatively. Consultants (53.9%), male (53.4%), expatriates (56.7%), physicians of King Abdul Aziz Hospital, Ta'if (56.9%), and age group of 46–55 years (53.8%) appreciated EMRS positively. Overall perception of EMRS was found positive by 52.8%. CONCLUSION: Majority appreciated the EMRS, but specific concerns about its usage easiness and workflow disturbance were opposed by them also.