A hierarchical decision model (HDM) for exploring the adoption of electronic health records

Information systems have been making a noticeable entrance in the healthcare, although their adoption has been slow. This paper examines the factors influencing the electronic healthcare records (EHR) adoption by modeling behavioral intention of physicians towards EHR adoption. Three main criteria: perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and external factors along with the subcriteria, are studied by the authors. Analytical hierarchical process (AHP) model is tested through the expert judgment quantification of physicians in Portland metro area. The results showed high importance of the Perceived Ease of Use criteria on the behavioral intensions of physicians towards EHR adoption. Search ability and user interface - subcriteria of Perceived Ease of Use had some of the highest values. Another important subcriterion in the analysis under External Factors Criteria was Cost. None of the criteria evaluated could be considered unimportant, i.e. having really low values after the analysis. The results indicate that EHR should be mandatory in terms of reducing of time spent and errors, improving the outcomes and productivity and in terms of optimum patient treatment.