The electronic medical record (EMR) is a new and promising tool for enhancing national and international healthcare delivery.1 Recent research has shown that information technologies can reduce medication errors,2 improve adherence to clinical either practice guidelines,3 and improve the

delivery of preventive health services,4 thereby potentially improving health outcomes for patients.5 6 While electronic medical users can be productive, any disparities in experience, understanding and skills can leave team members feeling less than satisfied and not working to their full potential.1 Clinicians’ perception of the EMR is a crucial determinant of the successful use of the EMR system. United Arab Emirate, Health Authority of Abu-Dhabi (HAAD) has implemented a system developed by one of the top three Healthcare IT vendors in the USA.6 They have been in existence since 1979 and have installations in many countries including the USA, Canada, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, France, Spain, Singapore, Malaysia and South America. UAE has implemented the EMR system (Cerner) in 2008 in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. Information and research studies related to user satisfaction is lacking in the local context. This research study focused on physician user satisfaction with the EMR system in primary healthcare centres

(PHC) in Al Ain and was the first known survey conducted in the UAE exploring this research question. The findings of the quantitative study are reported in separate paper. We conducted a concurrent qualitative study in the same practices selected for the quantitative project. The use of focus group interviews is becoming increasingly popular in healthcare research

to explore the beliefs, feelings, attitudes and behaviour of individuals. Focus group discussions provide information about a range of ideas and feelings of individuals about specific issues and it illuminates the differences in perspective between groups of individuals. A focus group can generate a large amount of data in a relatively short time span.7 In this study, the researchers explored user knowledge, attitude and satisfaction with the EMR system in PHC in Al Ain. Method Study design This descriptive qualitative study was conducted in parallel with a quantitative study reported separately in a paper presented at the 2nd Al Ain Family Medicine Research Day on 3 March 2012 Brefeldin_A at Al Ain, UAE. Study method A purposive sampling strategy was used to recruit the physicians.8 The study was conducted in English. Permission was obtained from the clinic supervisors of each hospital prior to the study. Invitation letters were distributed among the physicians in clinics where the quantitative study on the EMR system was conducted. The management personnel were requested to select the participants for our study. These workers were selected based on their willingness to share their experiences on the EMR with us.