Patient Attitudes toward the Use of the Electronic Medical Record in an Acute Psychiatric Unit

Abstract

Background: The increasing use of the electronic medical record (EMR) has been promoted to enhance communication between health care professionals and medical settings. A common criticism, however, has been the EMR's effect upon the doctor-patient relationship and patient satisfaction. Current literature on such effects of the EMR has primarily involved the outpatient setting. This study instead surveys patient attitudes toward the use of the EMR in an acute, inpatient psychiatric setting. Methods: A 13-item survey was administered to voluntary patients admitted to an acute psychiatric unit within a general hospital. Survey items were used to assess satisfaction with one's physician and medical care, sense of computer interference with the doctor-patient relationship, confidentiality concerns, and overall comfort with computer use on the unit. Results: Data analysis revealed that 87.2% of the surveyed patients were comfortable with the use of computers on the unit, with only 11.5% of patients strongly agreeing that the computer acted as a barrier between them and their psychiatrists. However, comfort with computer use was not significantly associated with the other survey subfactors. Significant correlations among subfactors were found between physician satisfaction and sense of protected confidentiality (r = 0.753, p = 0.01); between physician dissatisfaction and sense of protected confidentiality (r =-0.353, p = 0.05), confidentiality concerns (r = 0.438, p = 0.01