Electronic medical records: critical views of doctors in the metropolitan region of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Abstract

Digitalization has extended the use of information and communications technologies in the field of health. This article addresses electronic medical records drawing on the criticisms and weaknesses highlighted by clinical specialists, general practitioners, and family doctors working in the metropolitan region of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The qualitative research design included 43 interviews conducted between June 2019 and March 2020. We developed an interpretive framework structured around three categories: communications and health; biomedicine, biopolitics and information and communication technologies; subjectivity, rights and gender. The main results refer to: changes in doctor-patient relations; data recording and usage; implications for rights and subjectivities; potential and challenges of health informatization in a context of precarious infrastructure; and regulatory challenges and structural inequalities.