Paper Title
Electronic Patient Record System For Clinician Use: A Conceptual Framework
Abstract
Access to affordable and quality healthcare should be possible especially with innovative and technological
advancement in health. Health Information Systems (HIS) using Electronic Patient Record (EPR) systems have been applied
in hospitals in South Africa (SA) through telemedicine and mhealth. Although EPR systems exist in SA hospitals, there is
concern by clinicians regarding its efficient use. Clinician’s perception and actual use has not been fully understood since
EPR systems design, development and implementation excludes them. This concept paper develops a framework for
clinicians in the SA hospital context based on various HIS models applied in health. The paper explores and analyses
constructs and based on this, conceptualises a HIS framework to guide EPR application. It argues that adopting an individual
HIS model such as Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Unified Theory Acceptance and Use Technology (UTAUT),
Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) or the model of PC utilization may not be sufficient for a SA health context; rather each
construct should be examined for its relevance for the human interface.
Keywords- Clinicians, electronic patient record, conceptual framework, health information system, South Africa