Does Your Doctor Use An EHR?

The latest statistics are out regarding the adoption and use of electronic health records (EHRs). The New England Journal of Medicine published the government sponsored survey report. Check out the article in the NY Times, "Most Doctors Aren't Using Electronic Health Records." (full report - Electronic Health Records in Ambulatory Care -- A National Survey of Physicians).

The article indicates that only 9% of medical practices with less than 3 physicians have adopted an EHR -- while the percentage increases to 50% for those practices with 50 or more physicians. The comments in the article by one physician seem to confirm a recent conversation with Jack Shaffer, health IT specialist, that EHRs don't necessarily improve physician efficiency.

West Virginia native, Dr. Brailer, is quoted in the article:

But the new study is based on a large sampling — more than 2,600 doctors across the country — and a detailed survey, making it more definitive than past research, experts say. The results, they say, also show a strong endorsement of electronic health records by doctors who have them, especially for what the report termed “fully functional” records, which include reminders of care guidelines, based on a patient’s age, gender or medical history.

For example, 82 percent of those using such electronic records said they improved the quality of clinical decisions, 86 percent said they helped in avoiding medication errors and 85 percent said they improved the delivery of preventative care.

“Those numbers are huge and very encouraging,” said Dr. David J. Brailer, the former health information technology coordinator in the Bush administration.

Dr. Brailer also pointed to the 54 percent of doctors without electronic health records who said that not finding an electronic health record that met their needs was a “major barrier” to adoption. In short, they are not satisfied with the existing products, which tend to be designed for hospitals — big customers — instead of small practices.

“What we see is a deficit in innovation, and that is something innovators and the capital markets can address,” said Dr. Brailer, who leads a firm that invests in medical ventures, Health Evolution Partners.

AthenaHealth is also mentioned in the article. Over the last several months I have been thinking about whether a web based service as software approach, like AthenaHealth, might be an method to grow the adoption of EHR usage in West Virginia as a part of the West Virginia Health Information Network.

The report finding that that most doctors are not satisfied with existing technology should give Dr. Parkinson via Hello Health and other health 2.0 innovators a positive sense of opportunity.

Better Understanding of Key Health Information Technology Terms

On April 28, 2008, the National Alliance for Health Information Technology released its Report, "Defining Key Health Information Technology Terms," to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

The report is an effort to get everyone working in health information technology to have a common understanding of and differences between EMRs, EHRs, PHRs, HIEs, HIOs and RHIOs. If you don't know what each of these are or are interested in better understanding these key health tech terms check out the report.

An article by Health Data Management indicates that the Report will be "presented on June 3 to the American Health Information Community, a Department of Health and Human Services advisory body, for final approval."

HHS Announces Physician EHR Demo Project

Yesterday HHS announced that CMS will involve physicians in a five year demonstration project encouraging small and medium physician practices to adopt electronic health records.

Excerpt from Secretary Leavitt's announcement:

“This demonstration is designed to show that streamlining health care management with electronic health records will reduce medical errors and improve quality of care for 3.6 million Americans. By linking higher payment to use of EHRs to meet quality measures, we will encourage adoption of health information technology at the community level, where 60 percent of patients receive care,” Secretary Leavitt said. “We also anticipate that EHRs will produce significant savings for Medicare over time by improving quality of care. This is another step in our ongoing effort to become a smart purchaser of health care -- paying for better, rather than simply paying for more.”

Conducted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the demonstration would be open to participation by up to 1,200 physician practices beginning in the spring. Over a five-year period, the program will provide financial incentives to physician groups using certified EHRs to meet certain clinical quality measures. A bonus will be provided each year based on a physician group’s score on a standardized survey that assesses the specific EHR functions a group employs to support the delivery of care.

The CMS demonstration also will help advance Secretary Leavitt’s efforts to shift health care in the U.S. toward a system based on value. The Department is working to effect change through its Value-Driven Health Care initiative, which is based on Four Cornerstones: interoperable electronic health records, public reporting of provider quality information, public reporting of cost information, and incentives for value comparison.

For more info check out the HHS Press Release.

Thanks to the Medicare Update blog for a tip on this new project.