Cautious, but optimistic: An ethnographic study on location and content of primary care providers using electronic medical records

The integration of technology into primary care facilities has the potential to improve patient care, but also may disrupt provider workflows. Technologies that are designed to fit the use patterns and ideal interactions of providers will be better accepted and utilized. Our ethnographic study of Electronic Medical Record (EMR) usage by 10 primary care providers identified where providers utilize the EMR system and what tasks they complete at those locations. Because the majority of providers only wanted to view and extract information from the EMR system in the exam room, we suggest a more cautious approach to deploying technology in primary care facilities. Until EMR technologies are designed to fit provider documentation workflows, providers should focus on retrieving information from these systems in exam rooms instead of inputting information. We present design considerations for technology to support data viewing, documentation, and collaboration in primary care.