Training staff members requires additional costs. There is also the 'time' cost of using the system on a daily basis. Furthermore, many find the demands of using the system -- typing into a machine as the patient talks -- to be profoundly impersonal and contrary to the true nature of practicing medicine. Doctors and nurses want to focus on people, not on machines, and they view EMR as a machine-driven intrusion into the way they practice medicine. However, supporters of electronic medical records contend that it is this desire to ignore the mundane side of medical record-keeping that often results in bad medicine. The great advantages of EMR are that they do require that providers enter all relevant data and ensure that patients sign necessary request forms. And patient health as a whole will be improved if by using EMR, there can be comparisons made between different patients. Data trends will become more readily apparent, complete, and easy to compare (Tennenhouse 2010).

The 'flip' side to this easy cross-comparison, however, is that there remain fears about compromised patient privacy. These are not unsubstantiated. "A December 2011 study of 72 healthcare institutions by the Ponemon Institute -- an independent privacy and data protection group -- found that 96% reported patient data had been lost, stolen or 'otherwise compromised' within the last two years" (the resistance: Small practices reluctant to implement EMR, 2012, Hit Exchange Media). Of course, HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) specifically protects patient privacy and was intended in part to answer some of patients' concerns regarding how their...

But physicians must ensure that there are controls put in place so the law is upheld in practice, such as encrypting data and properly training staff. Records must also be complete to be useful and even when using computers there can still be 'gaps' and inaccuracies in information. Also, data can be more difficult to retrieve in the event of an attack upon the system. All of these potential negatives are yet more reasons why EMR is such a 'disruptive' technology, even though ultimately its benefits likely outweigh its detriments.