Evaluating the epic electronic medical record system: A dichotomy in perspectives and solution recommendations

Three key areas are discussed to determine the feasibility of improvement including a decrease in medical errors and the resulting parallel improvement in patient safety, inter-disciplinary collaboration, and a decrease in the overall cost of healthcare. We identified many discrepancies between the Epic EMR system's intended use, and the workaround system that clinicians have used to document patient care. In addition, we discuss a dichotomy in perspectives amongst the Health System and Technology Services department at UVa, and healthcare staff end users, with regard to the intended functionality and the usability of the Epic EMR system. In light of our findings, we provide a set of recommendations on how to decrease the gap between the intended and actual use of EMR systems, in general