Ambivalently awaiting: Norwegian general practitioners' expectations towards a cross-Institutional Electronic health record

Abstract

A cross-institutional Electronic Health Record (EHR) where all healthcare workers can access a patient's record, is seen as an important means to improved access to information, better patient care, and increased efficiency. In Norway, the first EHR of this type (US based Epic EHR) is to be implemented in the Central Norway Regional Health Authority. General practitioners (GPs) are central actors in health service delivery, and consequently it is important that also they use the new system. However, we lack knowledge on GP's expectations and needs for cross-institutional EHRs. Drawing on interviews with 17 GPs, we discuss these topics and conclude that the GPs interviewed are ambivalent towards an EHR of this scale.