Computer use in primary care practices in Canada

Article Figures & Data

Table 1.

Sample characteristics: N = 788.

Table 2.

Mean (SD) computer use scale scores, by province and all of Canada

PRACTICE LOCATION^*	MEAN (SD) SCORE^†	NO. OF FAMILY PHYSICIANS
British Columbia	7.20 (2.41)	59
Alberta	7.23 (2.45)	115
Saskatchewan	6.50 (3.15)	20
Manitoba	7.51 (2.22)	41
Ontario	7.63 (2.02)	184
Quebec	3.95 (2.53)	215
New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island	3.91 (2.74)	54
Nova Scotia	6.36 (3.20)	59
Newfoundland and Labrador	4.20 (2.44)	41
Canada	5.97 (2.96)	788

↵* Data collected from the Family Physician Survey (Q47) from the Quality and Cost of Primary Care study.
↵† Computer use was scored on a scale from 0 to 9, with 9 indicating complete integration of computer use.

Table 3.

Proportion of physicians in primary care practices who use computers for various actions

COMPUTER USE^*	PHYSICIANS, %

	BC	AB	SK	MB	ON	QC	NB AND PE	NS	NL	CANADA
Making appointments	93.2	90.4	85.0	90.2	95.7	72.6	64.8	83.1	51.2	82.5
Issuing invoices	81.4	83.5	85.0	68.3	78.3	20.0	40.7	67.8	46.3	58.0
Issuing drug prescriptions	84.7	83.5	65.0	90.2	87.5	50.7	29.6	69.5	29.3	67.9
Sending prescriptions to the pharmacy^†	39.0	38.3	60.0	58.5	57.6	13.5	13.0	45.8	4.9	34.8
Sending referral letters to medical specialists	81.4	78.3	60.0	85.4	83.7	27.4	44.4	72.9	48.8	61.5
Keeping records of consultations	84.7	84.3	65.0	85.4	90.2	40.0	31.5	71.2	46.3	66.6
Storing diagnostic test results	83.1	86.1	65.0	90.2	89.1	48.8	40.7	74.6	46.3	70.1
Searching medical information on the Internet	94.9	93.9	95.0	95.1	92.9	83.3	92.6	83.1	92.7	90.0
Maintaining and using electronic health records	78.0	84.3	70.0	87.8	87.5	39.1	33.3	67.8	53.7	65.7
I do not use a computer	0.0	1.7	0.0	2.4	0.5	5.1	1.9	6.8	0.0	2.5

AB—Alberta, BC—British Columbia, MB—Manitoba, NB—New Brunswick, NL—Newfoundland and Labrador, NS—Nova Scotia, ON—Ontario, PE—Prince Edward Island, QC—Quebec, SK—Saskatchewan.
↵* Data collected from the Family Physician Survey (Q47) from the Quality and Cost of Primary Care study.
↵† This is considered to be electronic prescribing, as discussed by Clark.²⁵