Implementation of a Patient Self-Report Disability Identifier in Electronic Medical Records (EMR): Evaluation of Utility and Acceptability

This multi-site research collaboration aimed to evaluate patient, carer and staff experiences of using a self-report Disability Identification approach in Electronic Medical Records across five health services (The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, The Royal Women's Hospital, Peter MacCallam Cancer Centre and Austin Health) using two different EMR systems: Epic Systems (Verona, WI) and Cerner Powerchart (Oracle Cerner, Austin, TX). The study addressed the following objectives: 1) To assess the utility (operationalised as reach and adoption) of the DI questions during the first 9 months of its implementation (1st March – 30th November 2023); 2) To explore the acceptability of the DI approach through patient, carer and clinician perceptions of completing the self-report disability questions; 3) To make recommendations to guide optimisation and standard practice in disability identification in EMR across the participating hospitals and provide considerations for adoption in other jurisdictions. The study followed a convergent parallel mixed-methods design, including a retrospective audit of electronic medical records, online surveys, semi-structured interviews, and clinician focus group discussions. Study findings and recommendations for policy and practice are presented in this report.