Physicians' attitudes towards the computerization of clinical practice in Hong Kong: a population study

OBJECTIVE: To identify the prevailing attitudes among physicians to use of computers in the clinical setting and specifically those attitudes that may be associated with the adoption of computers in practice. DESIGN: A self-completed, 20-question postal questionnaire sent to 4850 randomly selected physicians. The questionnaire focused on details of the physicians' practice; actual computerization of or intention to computerize clinical and administrative functions; attitudes towards computerization; self-perceived computer ability and knowledge; and demographic information. The attitude statements were grouped under four themes according to a factor analysis. RESULTS: The survey was completed by 897 physicians. Only physicians in 'individual' practices were included in the analysis. This group was further dichotomized into clinical users (those with one or more clinical functions computerized) and non-clinical users. Non-clinical users were older and had fewer specialist qualifications. Although there was strong support for the attitude statements among both groups with regard to the benefit of computerization to patient care, there was much less support for electronic medical records. Non-clinical users were concerned about the potentially negative impact of computerization on the clinical encounter and the perceived high cost of computerization. DISCUSSION: The attitudes among current clinical users and non-users were substantially different. The most important disincentives to computerization were the potential for interference with the patient-physician encounter and the cost of computerizing multiple practice locations. Turning these disincentives into opportunities for change remains the challenge.