The Management and Sustainability of Organizational Change in Primary Care Adoption of Electronic Medical Record Systems

Abstract

<p>Information technology (IT) has been applied in every aspect in common everyday experience. Most industries have changed from paper based to digitally supported processes. The implementation of IT has resulted in lower costs, faster operations, and faster response to consumer demands, thus achieving economies of scale and major advancements in the quality of products introduced to the consumer.</p> <p>In healthcare, IT has led to extensive advances in many different aspects of medicine. IT has enhanced diagnostic equipment, laboratory result accuracy, research methodologies and analysis advancements, and has resulted in more effective prescription of medications. These advances have increased the overall quality of life for patients.</p> <p>Despite the fact that the adoption rate of Electronic Medical Record systems (EMRs) in European countries has reached more than 90%, the adoption of EMRs by primary care physicians in Canada lags far behind at a rate closer to 30%. Much of this low adoption rate can be attributed to barriers due to resistance to change. Many adoption projects in IT fail, even after change has occurred. These failures have occurred in many different industries, including healthcare. EMR adoption in primary care requires a focus on change management and sustainability for primary care physicians, the target audience of change.</p> <p>This thesis research investigates the reasons for the low rate of adoption of EMRs in the primary care environment in Canada. A change management model dedicated to the Canadian primary healthcare environment for the management and sustainability of change is created and discussed in detail. This study is based on a thorough literature review of change management models; a qualitative analysis of interviews with industry leaders from different backgrounds such as consultancy, government, and vendors; and a quantitative analysis of data through an online primary care physician questionnaire.</p>