The impact of electronic medical records on maternal healthcare: A scoping review.

Abstract

Electronic medical records (EMRs) offer benefits in healthcare but also present challenges in maternity care. While EMRs have transformed healthcare and enhanced patient care and clinical research, their related tasks may disrupt woman-centred care and increase documentation burdens. However, there is insufficient evidence of the impact of EMRs on maternal healthcare. This scoping review identified contemporary implementation issues and outcomes guided by the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) and Quintuple Aim for Healthcare Improvement frameworks. This scoping review identified studies from seven databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, IEEE Xplore, and ACM) published between 2019 and 2024 using search terms related to EMRs and maternal healthcare. Thirteen studies on EMRs in maternity settings were included. EMRs positively affected maternal healthcare, as seen through RE-AIM and Quintuple Aim. However, limited attention is given to provider satisfaction, cost-effectiveness, and health equity. On the RE-AIM, studies frequently focused on health service setting-level outcomes with little attention to patient-level and provider-level outcomes. Key enablers of successful EMR implementation included stakeholder involvement, user training, and the willingness of healthcare providers to adapt. Challenges such as data quality issues, high initial costs, patient refusal, staffing complexities, alarm fatigue, and low EMR usage among maternity patients impacted the overall reach and effectiveness of the EMRs. Future research should prioritise evaluating the impacts of EMRs through a comprehensive lens aligned with Quintuple Aim outcomes to ensure informed decision-making and enhance maternal healthcare practices.