EHR Adoption in Healthcare Practices: Lessons from Two Case Studies

As electronic health records (EHRs) are becoming an integral part of the American Healthcare System, understanding their adoption processes and the associated barriers is of great importance. This research paper analyzes the status of EHR in two different sites, a large and a mid-sized hospital. We designed a framework to better comprehend their current status of EHR adoption. This framework is comprised of the selection process, the implemented Institute of Medicine (IOM) core functionalities, the meaningful use stages, and the lessons learned and barriers faced for further improvements. The main findings can be concluded in two propositions. First, having a framework to analyze EHR implementations that links IOM core functionalities to the meaningful use criteria can set a benchmark for EHR analysis and assessment. Second, this framework, applied for EHR analysis in two hospitals, helps unveil critical barriers including: technical difficulties, primary integration, and following healthcare rules and regulations.