A tactical framework for EMR adoption

Hospitals and other health settings across Canada are transitioning from paper or legacy information systems to Electronic Medical Records (EMR) systems to improve patient care and service delivery. The literature speaks to benefits of EMR systems, but also challenges, such as adverse patient events and provider workflow interruptions. Theoretical models have been proposed to help understand the complex interaction between health information technologies and the healthcare environment, but a shortcoming is the transition from conceptual models to actual clinical settings. The health ecosystem is filled with human diversity and organizational culture considerations that cannot be separated from technical implementation strategies. This paper analyzes literature on EMR implementation and adoption to develop a tactical framework for EMR adoption. The framework consists of six categories, each with a set of seed questions to consider when leading technology adoption projects.