Influence of Physician Specialty of Practice and Computerized Physician Order Entry Utilizatio

The purpose of this qualitative, grounded theory study was to examine the root cause of physicians' refusal to adopt the use of Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) in the hospital setting. Compliance with computerized physician order entry, within a healthcare organization, can improve patient safety and minimize the financial risk of the organization. This study helped determine if physicians' specialty of practice has any relationship with lack of utilization of computerized physician order entry. The target population for this study were 20 physicians practicing in a not for profit academic medical center. Physicians participating in this study were practicing in the specialty of practice areas of cardiology, neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery and general medicine. In each specialty of practice group, five physicians were interviewed. The interviews conducted identified what physician specialty of practice factors are influential in improving physician utilization of CPOE. Findings from this research noted that physician perceptions about CPOE leadership influence physician utilization. The majority of physicians reported they had no choice in using CPOE; there was not department specific representation on the CPOE committees; patient safety features of CPOE influenced utilization; and project leadership did not consider specialty of practice training and workflow needs. To improve CPOE utilization it is necessary for physician specialty of practice needs to be assessed. Findings from this study also recognized that efficiency influenced CPOE and to improve efficiency, different practices needs must be considered. If the opinions of the physicians were considered in order to determine how the technology could be more efficient, this would help in increasing utilization of the technology. Results from this study noted that physicians practicing in the specialty of medicine had less workflow concerns as the CPOE workflow was designed more to meet their specialty needs. Results from this study also may lead to future research studies regarding physician specialty specific factors impacting CPOE utilization. Future studies with wide-spread quantitative analysis would be beneficial in order to assess perceptions regarding the technology. Another beneficial study would be one that assessed the strengths and weaknesses of the technology. With this information, the organization may further improve CPOE utilization.