You very likely have strong opinions about the electronic health record system (EHR) you use – opinions that would help any physician who might be thinking about installing the same EHR. Whether you like your system or hate it, here's your chance to make your views clear to all the readers of Family Practice Management (FPM) – and to the vendors who monitor our survey results. Just take a few minutes to complete the 2012 EHR user-satisfaction survey. With practices already collecting incentives from the government for meaningful use of EHRs, more and more physicians are getting into the market, so this is a particularly good time to make your opinion known. You can help colleagues across the country select the best systems for their practices and avoid costly mistakes. We will publish product-specific results in an upcoming issue of FPM.

About the survey

The survey is open to AAFP members who use commercial EHRs. We don't survey on a preselected set of EHR systems; rather we will report results for any commercial EHR system used by enough respondents. Consequently, we encourage all members who use EHR systems to respond; the more who respond, the more EHR systems we'll be able to report on and the more complete the report will be.

But I took the survey last time. Our last satisfaction survey was fielded almost a year and a half ago¹ (results were published in our July/August 2011 issue²), and things change quickly in health information technology. Your system has probably been upgraded, you've had more time to get used to it, and your opinion may have changed in all those months.

But my partner is taking the survey. If you and your partner are like most family physicians, you don't agree on everything. Your opinion counts, and so does your partner's. We need to hear from you both – and the rest of your colleagues too. If there are six of you, you probably have six different opinions of the system you use. And the more responses a given system gets, the more likely it is to be included in the report of results.

But I'm not computer savvy. We need to hear from all segments of the membership, not just the enthusiasts and experts. If you're bewildered by your EHR, prospective users probably would be too.

But I just hate our EHR. Then don't you think it's important to tell colleagues who might be thinking of buying it?

What's in it for you

Your response will provide feedback to vendors that spurs improvements – perhaps even in the EHR you use. In addition, one randomly selected respondent will receive an Apple iPad, and 10 others will receive complimentary one-year subscriptions to the FPM print edition.

Taking the survey

To make it easy to respond, we are publishing the survey instrument in the print issue of FPM and on the FPM website. The easiest option is to submit the survey online. Be sure to respond by July 31, 2012. Your colleagues will thank you.