Abstract
BACKGROUND: Patient satisfaction has not been widely studied with respect to implementation of the electronic medical record (EMR). There are few reports of the impact of the EMR in pediatrics. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess the impact of implementation of an electronic medical record system on families in an academic pediatric rheumatology practice. METHODS: Families were surveyed 1 month pre-EMR implementation and 3 months post-EMR implementation. RESULTS: Overall, EMR was well received by families. Compared with the paper chart, parents agreed the EMR improved the quality of doctor care (55% or 59/107 vs 26% or 26/99, P < .001). More parents indicated they would prefer their pediatric physicians to use an EMR (68% or 73/107 vs 51% or 50/99, P = .01). CONCLUSIONS: Transitioning an academic pediatric rheumatology practice to an EMR can increase family satisfaction with the office visit.