The Love-hate Relationship of Physical Therapists with Electronic Patient Records

Physical therapists use computers for administration for two decades now. The use of computers for clinical documentation is growing. The question arises how physical therapists think about Electronic Patient Records. 27 students of the bachelor of physical therapy interviewed 44 physical therapists in private practices according to the USE IT-adoption model in order to measure the adoption of Electronic Patient Records. All physical therapists use computers in practice, because they are required to register quality and performance indicators for financial reasons. Physical therapists demonstrate a positive attitude towards Electronic Patient Records, because of the potential to share patient data. However, they consider reporting in the EPR time consuming, and often irrelevant for providing good care. In order to achieve adoption of Electronic Patient Records by physical therapists, a rethinking of the rules for reimbursement of physical therapy, including a relieve of the administrative burden, should precede the necessary redesign of EPR's for physical therapists.