Evaluation of an Electronic Patient Record in a Nursing Home: One Size Fits All?

In a nursing home an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) is implemented to replace the paper records. Objective: The research aimed to measure the adoption of the EPR by the end-users, and to measure the suitability of the EPR for the context of a nursing home. Methods: A paper questionnaire is distributed to all 341 care providers who used the EPR daily. 130 (38%) responses were included in the research. The questionnaire comprised questions about use of the EPR, ease of use, and support of providing care. Additional twelve interviews are held based on the USE IT-framework. Results: Most appreciated is the access anywhere, anytime, and the legibility. Medical staff was less satisfied, because the EPR was less supportive to their task. Conclusion: The EPR fits the context of the nursing home and is adopted by the care providers. But additional functionalities are needed to support multi-disciplinary collaboration.