Evaluation and assessment of a generic computerized patient record system utilized by physical therapists in a primary care setting

Abstract: Within the field of medical informatics, patient medical records are the sole source of information for dealing with clinical activities concerning the documentation, care, progression, and ongoing interactions between the patient and clinicians. Electronic or computer-based patient records (CPRs) have had a presence within health care in some form and magnitude for the past thirty years yet only recently have been incorporated in health care to a larger extent. Due to the wide variation of professions in health care, there is a problem of CPRs not being able to fulfill all the possibilities and demands the individual professionals need, since many CPRs are designed as a generic system, to be used across multiple professions. The focus of this report is on the utilization of a generic CPR in a specialist clinical setting, i.e., a physical therapy clinic, and to analyze how the therapists utilize the different components and features in a generic CPR. The purpose of the evaluation was to investigate how viable the CPR was as a documentation tool and to which extent it supported the therapists in their clinical, documentation and delivery of care activities. In this study, a total of seven physical therapists participated in a post-usage evaluation of an existing CPR. The evaluation was achieved by interpretative research with open-ended interviews and observations. The results of the study showed that despite some shortcomings, the generic CPR was an effective tool for the clinicians, not only as a documenting aid, but also enabling them to quickly research the patients' prior diagnosis and treatment history, plan for future care, support decision-making and to communicate with other professionals so as to coordinate treatment and planning.