Identifying opportunities to optimise the electronic medical record for allied health professionals: a concept mapping study

Abstract

Objective To utilise a concept mapping process to identify key opportunities for electronic medical record (EMR) optimisation for allied health professionals (AHPs). Methods A total of 26 participants (allied health managers, clinicians and healthcare consumers) completed the concept mapping process, which included generating statements, and then subsequently sorting all statements into groups, and also ranking each statement for importance and changeability (0 = not important/changeable, 4 extremely important/changeable). Multivariate analysis and multidimensional scaling were then used to identify core priorities for digital optimisation. Results Participants generated 98 discrete statements that were grouped into 13 conceptual clusters. Of these, 36 statements were subsequently determined to fall within the ‘green zone’ on the Go-Zone plot of importance and changeability (changeability ≥2.44, importance ≥2.79), and formed the set of key optimisation priorities. Clusters with the most items in the Go-Zone plot were ‘training and business rules’ and ‘service statistics.’ Conclusion Concept mapping facilitated identification of 36 key optimisation priorities considered both changeable and important to assist EMR optimisation for AHPs. Addressing these priorities requires action related to end-user skills and training, EMR system capacity, and streamlining of governance and collaboration for the optimisation process.