A principal components exploratory factor analysis(EFA) was first performed to empirically – rather than theoretically – group the EMR functionalities used by the surveyed family physicians into eight functional categories. As shown in Table 1, each of these categories was in turn determined to be part of an EMR system’s clinical, communicational or administrative capabilities. This grouping of EMR functionalities is based on descriptions in the literature of activities performed by primary care physicians – such as prescribing medication, ordering laboratory tests or billing patients– as being either part of a clinical process (e.g., [49]), a
communication process (e.g.,[50]) or an administrative process (e.g., [51]).