Factors identified as barriers or facilitators to EMR/EHR based interprofessional primary care: a scoping review

ABSTRACT

As interprofessional collaboration (IPC) in primary care receives increasing attention, the role of electronic medical and health record (EMR/EHR) systems in supporting IPC is important to consider. A scoping review was conducted to synthesize the current literature on the barriers and facilitators of EMR/EHRs to interprofessional primary care. Four online databases (OVID Medline, EBSCO CINAHL, OVID EMBASE, and OVID PsycINFO) were searched without date restrictions. Twelve studies were included in the review. Of six facilitator and barrier themes identified, the key facilitator was teamwork support and a significant barrier was data management. Other important barriers included usability related mainly to interoperability, and practice support primarily in terms of patient care. Additional themes were organization attributes and user features. Although EMR/EHR systems facilitated teamwork support, there is potential for team features to be strengthened further. Persistent barriers may be partly addressed by advances in software design, particularly if interprofessional perspectives are included. Organizations and teams might also consider strategies for working with existing EMR/EHR systems, for instance by developing guidelines for interprofessional use. Further research concerning the use of electronic records in interprofessional contexts is needed to support IPC in primary care.

KEYWORDS:

• Interprofessional collaboration
• medical informatics
• primary health care
• scoping review

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13561820.2023.2204890.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Foundation Grant to DGM (grant number 148444) and the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation through a partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, in support of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA) (grant number 3431).

Notes on contributors

Julie Kosteniuk

Julie Kosteniuk is a Research Associate in the Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan.

Debra Morgan

Debra Morgan is a Professor and Chair in Rural Health Delivery at the Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan.

Valerie Elliot

Valerie Elliot is a Research Officer in the Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan.

Melanie Bayly

Melanie Bayly is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan.

Amanda Froehlich Chow

Amanda Froehlich Chow is an Assistant Professor in the School of Public Health, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan.

Catherine Boden

Catherine Boden is an Associate Librarian, Leslie and Irene Dubé Health Sciences Library, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan.

Megan E. O’Connell

Megan E. O’Connell is a Professor in the Department of Psychology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan.