Ambulatory EMR Adoption in the USA: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Based on a longitudinal national survey, this study examines the adoption of electronic medical records (EMR) by clinics in the USA between 2004 and 2014. A trend analysis suggests that government incentive, technological breakthrough and patient-centered care push the diffusion forward. The interaction among policy, technology and practice is likely to affect the decision-making of practitioners regarding EMR adoption. This study identifies clinic-, patient- and visit-related variables from the survey, and uses them to predict EMR adoption intention and usage in each year. The explanatory power of different variables changed over time in different ways, revealing how policy, technology, and practice influence EMR adoption together. The findings yield implications for the strategies and best practices of health IT diffusion.