Doing away with paper. Part 1--Advice for setting up fully computerised medical records

Many general practitioners have not yet started to use computers for all their clinical records while others have yet to use them even for simple tasks such as prescribing.

To examine the issues preventing doctors from taking the 'next step' and to provide useful information and advice about how to prepare for and implement the change from paper based to electronic medical records.

Computerised medical records offer significant advantages over traditional paper based records with benefits for both doctors and their patients. Despite these benefits many doctors have resisted making the change from paper based records. Those doctors currently considering this final step are often confused by the large number of choices and fear that mistakes may prove costly and frustrating. This paper deals with these problems and describes how important it is to motivate the people who are to use the new equipment as it is to deal with the technological issues.