ABSTRACT
Electronic patient record (EPR) systems are currently being implemented in many health care organizations on both sides of the Atlantic. These systems, through their ability to integrate several functions and provide seamless access to information, are expected to enable value-driven, patient-centric health care delivery. A particularly interesting area in which to study the impact of culture on information technology (IT) implementation is in health care. Health care is a complex industry affected by many factors, including the payment system and the microenvironment. Using qualitative-based techniques, such as ethnographic observations and structured and semistructured interviews with key personnel, people identified several issues that are directly relevant to EPR implementation issues in health care organizations. In applying these techniques, people subscribed to the recommendation for performing systematic and careful thematic analysis on the data that were gathered in order to facilitate the understanding of significant themes and pertinent issues.
