2013
From the Annals of Internal Medicine
Since 2009, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have spent billions of dollars in the form of incentive payments to providers to encourage the adoption and meaningful use of electronic health records (EHR). To qualify for payment, physicians must meet specific criteria as they move through stages of adoption. Ultimately, EHR should allow physicians to provide high-quality, efficient, patient-centered care by using the data in their EHR to measure and assess the care they provide to their patient populations. Little is known about the proportion of physicians who are able to meet meaningful use criteria or their use of EHRs to manage patient populations. Researchers surveyed 1,820 primary care physicians and specialists in office-based practices to evaluate physicians’ reports of EHR adoption and ease of use and their ability to use EHRs to manage patient populations. The survey revealed that about 43 percent of physician respondents had a basic EHR and about 10 percent met meaningful use criteria. Computerized systems for patient population management and quality reporting were not widespread, and physicians reported finding them difficult to use. The authors conclude that adopting EHR does not ensure better management of patient populations.
Billions in incentive payments you say? And besides, the issue is not electronic records within a physician’s practice, the issue is the lack of accessibility to all medical and coverage records among all health care providers and facilities.
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