BARRIERS AND BENEFITS OF ADOPTING ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS (EHRs) IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS

Introduction
Physicians make up the primary frontline healthcare practitioner group that must be engaged in the implementation of electronic health records (EHRs). This study aimed to explore physician attitudes and readiness towards the implementation of EHR systems in public hospitals.

Material and methods
A total of 296 clinicians from four public hospitals in Iraqi Kurdistan with different job titles were included in the study.

Results
The physicians reported that top hospital management would give importance to the EHR project (87.5%), include physicians in its implementation (69.6%) and provide adequate training (69.75). EHRs may negatively affect physician attitudes due to increased control/monitoring of clinical practices by hospital administration (55.4%) or due to security, legal, and ethical concerns (50.0%), which may limit physician autonomy (51.8%). Moreover, physicians reported that EHR may diminish patient confidence in physicians (37.5%), may threaten physician credibility with patients (51.8%), and will likely interfere with doctor-patient interactions (55.4%). The analysis showed that autonomy could be limited due to the interference of EHRs in doctor-patient interactions (P=0.003). Physician concerns with respect to patient relationships included privacy concerns (P=0.008) and compromised physician autonomy (P=0.003).

Conclusions
The physicians reported that while hospital management would support the implementation of an EHR system, the physicians had concerns about physician autonomy and potential negative impacts on doctor-patient relationships.