BACKGROUND Laboratory testing occupies a prominent place in health care. Information technology systems have the potential to empower laboratory experts and to enhance the interpretation of test results in order to better support physicians in their quest for better and safer patient care. This study sought to develop a better understanding of which laboratory information exchange (LIE) systems and features specialist physicians are using in hospital settings to consult their patients' laboratory test results, and what benefit they derive from such use. METHODS As part of a broader research program on the use of health information exchange systems for laboratory medicine in Quebec, Canada, this study was designed as on online survey. Our sample is composed of 566 specialist physicians working in hospital settings, out of the 1512 physicians who responded to the survey (response rate of 17%). Respondents are representative of the targeted population of specialist physicians in terms of gender, age and hospital location. RESULTS We first observed that 80% of the surveyed physicians used the province-wide interoperable electronic health records (iEHR) system and 93% used a laboratory results viewer (LRV) to consult laboratory test results and most (72%) use both systems to retrieve lab results. Next, our findings reveal important differences in the capabilities available in each type of system and in the use of these capabilities. Third, there are differences in the nature of the perceived benefits obtained from the use of each of these two systems. Last, the extent of use of an LRV is strongly influenced by the IT artefact itself (i.e., the hospital's LRV available capabilities) while the use of the provincial iEHR system is influenced by its organizational context (i.e. the hospital's size and location). CONCLUSIONS The main contribution of this study lies in its insights into the role played by context in shaping physicians' choices about which laboratory information exchange systems to adopt and which features to use, and the different perceptions they have about benefits arising from such use. One related implication for practice is that success of LIE initiatives should not be solely assessed with basic usage statistics.

中文翻译：

---

通过健康信息交换推进医院检验医学：对加拿大专科医生的调查。


背景技术实验室测试在医疗保健中占有重要地位。信息技术系统有潜力增强实验室专家的能力，并增强对测试结果的解释，以便更好地支持医生寻求更好、更安全的患者护理。本研究旨在更好地了解专科医生在医院环境中使用哪些实验室信息交换 (LIE) 系统和功能来咨询患者的实验室检测结果，以及他们从这种使用中获得什么好处。方法 作为加拿大魁北克省检验医学健康信息交换系统使用的更广泛研究计划的一部分，本研究设计为在线调查。我们的样本由 566 名在医院工作的专科医生组成，其中包括 1512 名接受调查的医生（答复率为 17%）。受访者在性别、年龄和医院地点方面代表了专科医生的目标人群。结果 我们首先观察到，80% 的受访医生使用全省范围内的可互操作电子健康记录 (iEHR) 系统，93% 使用实验室结果查看器 (LRV) 来查阅实验室检测结果，大多数 (72%) 使用这两个系统来查询实验室检测结果。检索实验室结果。接下来，我们的研究结果揭示了每种类型系统的可用功能以及这些功能的使用方面的重要差异。第三，使用这两个系统所获得的感知利益的性质存在差异。最后，LRV 的使用范围受到 IT 制品本身（即医院的 LRV 可用功能）的强烈影响，而省级 iEHR 系统的使用则受到其组织环境的影响（即 医院的规模和位置）。结论 这项研究的主要贡献在于它深入了解了背景在塑造医生选择采用哪些实验室信息交换系统和使用哪些功能方面所发挥的作用，以及他们对这种使用带来的好处的不同看法。对实践的一个相关影响是，LIE 举措的成功不应仅用基本使用统计数据来评估。