Survey of electronic patient record systems in dental schools

Cork University Dental School & Hospital (CUDSH) is seeking to move from traditional Paper-Based Records (PBR) to an Electronic Patient Record (EPR). The objective of this study was to develop an online questionnaire for the worldwide distribution to Dental Schools to identify their choice of EPR with the anticipation of these data informing the EPR choice for CUDSH. A google forms questionnaire was developed for distribution by email. The questionnaire asked respondents to provide brief demographic details as well as their EPR and associated IT software choice of EPR. The questionnaire was piloted internally before being distributed. The distribution list derived from web searches of Dental Schools affiliated with IADR, Dental Schools Council (UK & Ireland) and through personal contacts. A total of 23 respondents completed the questionnaire and 7 used PBR only. The UK and Ireland formed the main geographical area within the EU and of 14 responses, only 6 EU institutes used an EPR with Salud (n=3; 50%) and Carestream R4 (n=3, 50%) equal in popularity. In North America (NA) there were 4 responses with all reporting the use of an EPR; Axium (n=3, 75%) and Epic (n=1, 25%). Other geographic areas included Africa (1), Asia (2), Oceania (1), and South America (1) who generally reported locally produced bespoke software packages or had PBR only, the exception being Singapore Dental School who use Titanium. Based on a small number of respondants, the most popular EPRs used in the EU (primarily UK and Ireland) are Salud and Carestream R4 and in NA is Axium. A large proportion of EU respondants remain using PBR with all NA respondants using an EPR. The diversity of the responses suggest that no single EPR provider has the IT solution to suit all Dental Schools/Hospitals and may reflect the requirement for further software development