Surgeons' perspective of a newly initiated electronic medical record.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act mandates "meaningful use" of an electronic health record (EHR) to receive current financial incentives and to avoid future financial penalties. Surgeons' ongoing adoption of an EHR nationally will be influenced by the early experiences of institutions that have made the transition from paper to electronic records. We conducted a survey to query surgeons at our institution regarding their perception of the EHR 3 months after institutional implementation. A total of 59 surveys were obtained from 24 senior staff and 35 residents. Results showed that surgeons believed the EHR was more effective as a billing tool than as a form of clinical documentation and believed the billing was more complete and accurate with the EHR. Surgeons also expressed concern that the EHR would negatively impact patient satisfaction, but in spite of this, they indicated that their personal quality of life was not negatively impacted.