CHANGE FACTORS AFFECTING THE TRANSITION TO AN EMR SYSTEM IN A PRIVATE PHYSICIANS' PRACTICE: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

This study examines key variables associated with enacting a significant organizational change and hypothesizes how these variables affect employee acceptance, or buy-in, to the change initiative. More specifically, this study focuses on the office staff of a private medical practice transitioning from paper medical records to an electronic medical records (EMR) system. Data were collected from the non-physician office staff through three questionnaires administered during different points in the implementation process. The resulting data were analyzed to test the hypotheses and to learn more about the relationships between employee buy-in and the following variables: organizational communication, participation in the change process, procedural justice, self-interests, job security, tolerance for change, understanding of the change implications. A small sample limited statistical testing. The results, therefore, are interesting in pointing to patterns that should be tested in future research but do not provide statistical evidence. This study found limited support for all the above independent variables as predictors of buy-in at some point in the implementation process. However, some variables, such as understanding of the organizational-level change implications, did not become predictors until the final round of surveying. Others, like communication and both justice variables, were predictors throughout the study.