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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 September 2013
Introduction – The potential impact of electronic health records (EHR) in driving tobacco treatment behaviours within healthcare settings has been established. However, little is known about the administrative variables that may undermine effectiveness in real world settings.
Aims – Assist healthcare planners interested in implementing tobacco-EHR systems by identifying an EHR framework that is consistent with published treatment guidelines, and the important organisational variables that can undermine the effectiveness of tobacco-EHR.
Methods – This paper considers the established literature on EHR implementation and physician behaviour change, and integrates this understanding with the observations of an expert workgroup tasked with facilitating tobacco-EHR implementation in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
Results/ Findings – System change in this topic area will continue to be problematic unless attention is paid to several important lessons regarding: 1) the evolving healthcare regulatory environment, 2) the integration of tobacco use treatment into primary care, and 3) the existing social and organisational barriers to uptake of evidence-based recommendations.
Conclusion – Healthcare organisations seeking to reduce the impact of tobacco use on their patients are well served by tobacco-EHR systems that improve care. Managers can avoid sub-optimal implementation by considering several threats to effectiveness before proceeding to systems change.