Adoption of Electronic Health Records Systems by Office-Based Physicians Reaches All-Time High; Government Incentives are Working
NORWALK, Conn., May 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Adoption of electronic health records (EHR) systems in U.S. medical practices has reached an all-time high, as more than three in four U.S. physicians are now utilizing EHRs that they or a hospital partner own, or are in the process of transitioning to one, according to the 2013 Physicians Practice Technology Survey, sponsored by ZirMed. Physicians Practice, America's Leading Practice Management Magazine, is a division of UBM Medica US.
"The resistance to EHR adoption that had plagued private-office healthcare for 15 years has all but broken," said Bob Keaveney, editorial director of Physicians Practice.
What broke it is the federal government's EHR incentive program, under which physicians who adopt and "meaningfully use" EHRs to treat patients receive cash incentives — and those who don't will eventually receive reduced Medicare payments. Only 24 percent of the 1,291 physicians surveyed from November 2012 to March 2013 said they still had no EHR access, and about 30 of this group expect to adopt one soon.
The government's plan is working, according to the Technology Survey results: 62 percent of EHR adopters say they have already successfully attested to using their systems meaningfully in the first stage of the program, and have received their first incentive check, and 57 percent have started preparing for the second stage.
EHR adoption is a crucial step in the transition of America's healthcare payment system to one that pays for outcomes rather than for services. In order to demonstrate quality, providers need access to the data that EHR systems collect.
The systems are also supposed to make practices more administratively efficient, and therefore lower the cost of care. But on this measure the results are mixed. Only 57 percent of EHR adopters report that their systems have made their practices more efficient, and only 43 percent report that that they have yielded a return on their technology investment.
And as more physicians are adopting EHRs, satisfaction with the technology vendors is declining: 54 percent of physicians say they are "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with the performance of their EHR vendor, down from 63 percent just two years ago. "Many physicians who have recently adopted EHRs have felt forced to do so, either by the government or their hospital," Keaveney said. "The systems will prove their worthiness over time, as practices adapt, but in the meantime transitions are messy."
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