Converting to an Electronic Medical Record: Dialectics of Organizational Change

• In Event: eHealth and journalism: The changing face of mediated discourse

Abstract

This study explored organizational communication and dialectical tensions accompanying implementation of an electronic medical record. Methods included a nine-month, participant-observation ethnography and a longitudinal Likert-type survey. Based on the results, the conversion to an EMR negatively affected providers’ perceptions of communication between providers and providers and providers and patients. The change process increased organizational dialectic tensions. Healthcare providers felt the change to an EMR negatively affected their perceptions of the organization.

Author

• Michael Pagano, Fairfield University