Electronic Health Record Adoption in Oral and Dental Health Centres in Turkey

The digitalisation studies in public hospitals in Turkey started with the Health Transformation Program in 2003. The Ministry of Health has been measuring the dissemination of meaningful usage and adoption of electronic health record (EHR) using Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) and Outpatient Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (O-EMRAM). Using a comprehensive survey, our study intends to measure the stage of EHR adoption in oral and dental health centres (ODHCs) providing primary healthcare services in Turkey. The results obtained were classified by basic and comprehensive EHR functions and benchmarked against the studies addressing EHR adoption in primary healthcare institutions of other countries. In 2021, 167 ODHCs/oral and dental health hospitals (ODHHs) actively operating in Turkey completed the O-EMRAM survey. The data obtained from the survey results were analysed with QlikView Personal Edition. The availability and prevalence of medical information systems and EHR functions and their use were measured. It is observed that 59 (40.7%) of ODHCs/ODHHs have comprehensive EHR functions, while the remaining 86 (59.3%) have basic EHR functions. Under these circumstances, it can be stated that all ODHCs/ODHHs in Turkey use at least basic EHR functions. All ODHCs/ODHHs in Turkey have at least basic EHR functions. The integration of e-prescription, electronic authorisation system and e-Pulse used throughout Turkey and Health Information Management System Society (HIMSS) used in ODHCs/ODHHs can be listed as one of the decisive factors in this result. ODHCs/ODHHs still have a long way to go in adopting EHR, but the current circumstances are also promising. It is considered that this study will serve as a baseline for future measurements and produce a notable result for decision-makers.