| | JULY 20228IN MY OPINIONThe implementation of electronic health records in hospitals is an exciting but also a daunting experience for most clinicians. The prospect of a new system which contains all the information about patients in one place, fills every clinician with a feeling of hope and security, as it promises to reduce administration time, duplication of work and the fear of patient misinformation. At the same time, the radical change from a system of handwritten notes which can be kept and retrieved from file rooms years after they were first written, to digitally archived notes kept in `clouds' can lead to anxiety for many clinicians, especially the ones who are less tech savvy. A similar divide probably exists amongst patients who are also the end users of their own health files. Electronic health records enable patients to see pretty much what the clinicians can see in the hospital, through the use of patient portals. Information such as booking appointments and test results as well as medical reports can now be visible to patients from the comfort of their own home. Some patients will find readily accessible digital information helpful for them to manage their own health. Others may struggle to navigate the digital tools or may find their detailed information distressing, unless explained by their doctor.The clinician's involvement in digital transformation and e-health record implementation can vary according to the organisational culture and power dynamics: from an early and continuous clinician involvement throughout the digital process, with clinicians implementing and owning the digital change, to a bystander clinician relationship with digital transformation.Dr Penny KechagioglouDIGITISING HEALTH RECORDS: A CLINICAL AFFAIR OR BYSTANDER?By Dr Penny Kechagioglou, Consultant Clinical Oncologist, Chief Clinical Information Officer and Deputy Chief Medical Officer, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust
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