Abstract

The primary health care IT-system (HIT) physicians in hospitals are exposed to is the electronic medical record (EMR) - the “information backbone” of all patient related activity and data. Despite the commonly acknowledged beneficial improvements through HIT, the level of EMR adoption in Germany is relatively low. Less than 20% of all hospitals have implemented a fully functional EMR. Apparently, the users have certain antipathies against the EMR. In order to identify the salient factors of these aversions and to provide a plausible explanation for the scarce penetration of EMR systems, a case study research in German hospitals has been conducted. The research subjects were physicians as the most influential EMR users. Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) was applied to analyze their perceptions towards using the EMR. Findings indicate that performance-related outcome expectations and anxieties are the most relevant factors. However, as the majority of the subject group generally has high confidence in EMR systems, expected benefits seem to outweigh perceived risks of EMR usage.