Private sector physicians feel their electronic health record systemshave become slower

BACKGROUND Finnish private sector physicians have been quite satisfied with their electronic health record (EHR) systems in previous studies. Since the last study, the private sector has become a part of the national Kanta services data system. In this article, we describe private sector physicians’ user experiences of their EHRs in 2017.

METHODS The data was collected by online survey in 2017. We studied the answers of physicians working in the private sector (n = 793). In this article we describe the answers given about the three most used EHR systems. Furthermore, we analyse changes compared to the survey conducted in 2014.

RESULTS Physicians using DynamicHealth are still the most satisfied with their EHR. The grades given to Acute have remained the same. Softmedic users have become less satisfied. The users point out problems with the stability and speed of the systems. There are still problems with health information exchange between organizations.

CONCLUSIONS The national Kanta services have not resolved the issues private sector physicians experience with information exchange, and they have presented new problems related to technical stability. From the point of view of the upcoming social and healthcare reform, the EHRs used by the private sector still need further development.