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An e-Marketing Approach to Overcoming Non-Financial Barriers to EHR Adoption Katie Wittman and Melissa Boufaida The University of Texas at Austin 2010 Summer HIT Certificate Program To address the non-financial concerns medical professionals have which serve as barriers to EHR adoption, we conducted a survey of both clinical and administrative staff working in a variety of settings and specialties. Among 51 responses, the compromising of patients’ personal health information and the fear of clinical staff being reduced to data entry clerks ranked as the two greatest concerns. To address the issue of information security, we created a banner advertisement for a medical website. The single greatest concern about EHRs among medical professionals is the potential for an unauthorized party to gain access to patient records. In reality, a paper chart room at a practice is equally susceptible to theft. Additionally, theft of paper records is difficult to trace and may often go unnoticed until the patient returns to the office. To address this concern, we created the banner advertisement below. Abstract We received 95 total responses to our survey. 43 of the submissions were from first responders and emergency medical services workers, many of whom utilize electronic patient care records which are purchased by the city or county government whom employs them and which do not have the same capabilities as full EHRs. Since our goal was to develop promotional materials for medical professionals with a voice in the purchasing decision of a complete electronic health record, these responses were excluded from this project though the results are available for later study. 3 submissions were not fully completed and were also excluded. Among the 49 responses analyzed, 85% (44) were from clinical staff and 15% (8) were from administrative medical staff. 60% (29) work in an ambulatory care setting and 16% (8) work in a hospital with the remainder working in other settings including long term care and home health. A graph showing the age distribution of respondents is shown below. The current adoption rate of electronic health records among medical facilities in the United States is very low with around 20% using some functions of an EHR. Only 4% of practices currently have and are using an EHR at a level consistent with initial meaningful use criteria. Many physicians have cited cost as a significant barrier to purchasing and implementing an EHR in their practices. Financial incentives were created under Medicare and Medicaid as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009 to address this issue and encourage adoption. Even with these incentives available and increased promotion of the benefits of electronic systems, many medical practices are resisting the conversion to EHRs. At the root of this resistance is a collection of fears related to uncertainty about the future of health information technology. Our goal was to identify some of these fears and misconceptions commonly held by medical professionals to be able to address and dispel them as much as possible. Acknowledgements We would like to thank Dr. Diane Kneeland, Dr. Leanne Field, Dr. David Wanser, Mr. William Rice, Mrs. Jane Wittman, and Mrs. Erin Lincoln for their assistance. Background Methods A web-based survey was created using Qualtrics© and distributed via e-mail to medical professionals. The survey contained 9 questions and a free response comment box. The Qualtrics© online survey software counted the responses, calculated means, and created graphs based on the data. 96% (47) of respondents rated their knowledge of and skills using computers as average or better. 24% (12) of respondents indicated that they currently use an EHR at work and 1 respondent also connects with a health information exchange. In addition to including a free response question asking what non-financial concerns related to EHRs the respondents had, we asked them to rate how concerned they are with 6 particular issues: losing the “art” of medicine, increased stress and accountability, looking incompetent while using technology in front of patients, compromising patients’ personal health information, clinical staff being reduced to data entry clerks, and losing professional autonomy. These results are displayed in the table below. References ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Figure 1. Responses to question 1 In which age bracket do you fall? Results Conclusions Table 1. Responses to question 8 How concerned are you about the following issues? Contact Information Katie Wittman (817)-689-7651 [email_address] Melissa Boufaida (512)789-6057 [email_address] Figure 2. Web banner advertisement addressing EHR security concerns E-Marketing has the ability to reach a larger audience than traditional print marketing. Other potential e-media formats for EHR marketing include webinars, social networking media, e-mail blasts, and search engine optimization. # Question Not at all concerned Slightly concerned Concerned Very concerned Responses Mean 1 Losing the "art" of medicine 19 21 5 4 49 1.88 2 Increased stress and accountability 18 18 9 4 49 1.98 3 Looking incompetent while using technology in front of patients 25 16 7 1 49 1.67 4 Compromising patients' personal health information 13 18 11 7 49 2.24 5 Clinical staff being reduced to data entry clerks 14 19 9 7 49 2.18 6 Losing professional autonomy 14 23 8 4 49 2.04

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