Doctors and the Single Electronic Health Record

Special Report: The Sociology of Databases
Analyzing the Piloting of the Personal Medical Record (Dossier Médical Personnel – DMP)
By Alexandre Mathieu-Fritz, Laurence Esterle
English

The dossier santé Picardie or DSP (Picardy health file) is a pilot implementation at the regional level of the Personal Medical Record (DMP – dossier méedical personnel) prior to its scaling up nationwide. It consists of a database on the patient’s medical history in the form of a single computerized medical record. Both DSP and DMP share a common main purpose: to integrate a variety of medical data into a secure file accessible online, with a view to improving coordination and communication between different health professions, e.g., between private practitioners and medical care institutions. This paper presents the strategy adopted by the contracting authorities to introduce the system. It shows how doctors in Picardy have integrated the use of the DSP into their practices; in other words, concretely, how they have created, informed, and become informed of its content. The paper also reviews whether uses of the DSP have contributed to creating, modifying, or reinforcing modes of coordination between doctors themselves and between them and other health professionals.

Go to the article on Cairn-int.info