Do general practice characteristics influence uptake of an information technology (IT) innovation in primary care?

Abstract

Introduction Recent evaluations of IT innovations in primary care have highlighted variations between centres and practices in uptake and use. We evaluated whether structural characteristics of a general practice were associated with variations in use of a web-based clinical information system underpinning a Managed Clinical Network in diabetes, between the years 2001 and 2003. Methods Using a computerised audit trail, we calculated the numbers of web-based operations that occurred in each practice, stratified by staff type and year, and adjusted for the numbers of registered diabetic patients. In regression analyses, we determined whether total use was associated with structural characteristics of the practice (total list size, training status, numbers of GPs (general practitioners), mean age of the GPs, numbers of female GPs, level of deprivation of the population and whether staff had received advanced training in diabetes care). Results Initially there were a few practices which made very frequent use of the information system,

Imminent adopters of electronic health records in ambulatory care

“…Interestingly, in the UK structural characteristics of practices were not associated with IT adoption. 21 Imminent adopters were more likely than users to report start-up and ongoing costs as hindrances to adoption or expansion of HIT, but perhaps not surprisingly imminent adopters were less likely than users or non-users to report cost as a barrier. Without substantial government incentives similar to those in the UK, financial barriers will probably continue to be important in the USA.…”

Creating a diabetes foot reminder-based registry using the electronic medical record

“…However, others have described the importance of a clinical nurse to improve initial registry uptake and sustain its progress when general practitioner use begins to decline. 7 At the control hospital, most measures demonstrated poor to moderate reliability where reminders were performed in primary care. Primary care providers are responsible for many reminders, and foot screening may not be the primary reason for the visit.…”

Implementation of innovative attitudes and behaviour in primary health care by means of strategic communication: a 7‐year follow‐up

“…Thus, it is essential to ensure the necessary conditions for staff members to assume responsibility and search for and assimilate information [3]. Some investigations have focused on the function of different communication channels and presented a number of technical solutions [10,11]. Strategic communication has been defined as the purposeful use of communication by an organization to fulfil its mission [12], while other studies have underlined the need for communication in combination with technical, administrative and economic control to achieve specific goals [13].…”