The electronic health record in Austria: physicians' acceptance is influenced by negative emotions

Negative emotions like anxiety and fear due to a lack of information may cause change barriers and drag physicians' acceptance of the national electronic health record (ELGA) in Austria. Qualitative, problem-centric interviews were conducted with eight physicians. The results point out that the physicians feel uninformed and snubbed. They fear unknown changes, increased costs, workload and surveillance without having advantages from using electronic health records in their daily practice. Impartial information campaigns, tailored to the physicians' needs and questions as well as comprehensive cost-benefit analysis could benefit the physicians' opinion of ELGA.