Identifying Caregiver Practices by Analyzing the Use of Electronic Medical Records

This chapter begins with a presentation of the existing management science literature on the uses of electronic medical records (EMRs). The EMR, developed by a software publisher is designed to support all aspects of patient care, including medical and paramedical data and reports, physician prescriptions, lab results, and even hospital bed management and billing. The chapter presents an original conceptual framework: the “instrumental genesis”. This is necessary to organize the analysis of the data produced by the questionnaire and to bring out results relating to the professional practices of staff. The instrumental genesis emphasizes that users most often faced a “system of instruments”. The conceptual framework of the instrumental genesis allows to enrich the analysis of the system of instruments by emphasizing that uses fall within three different relationships: with the activity, with oneself and with others.