Meaningful Use incentives fuels EHR adoption to all-time high according to recent 2013 Physician Practice Technology Survey.
U.S. adoption of electronic health records (EHR) systems among medical practices has reached an all-time high with more than three in four physicians utilizing EHRs. 62 percent of EHR adopters say they have already successfully attested for meaningful use stage 1, according to the 2013 Physicians Practice Technology Survey, sponsored by ZirMed.
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. EHR adoption is a critical step in the transformation of the U.S. health care system that focuses on outcomes rather than services. In order to demonstrate quality, providers need access to the data that EHR systems collect.
Growing “EHR Backlash”
The survey results also provides concrete support for the growing trend of “EHRbacklash” in recent months from several industry leaders and organizations. The survey reported only 54 percent of physicians saying they are “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the performance of their EHR vendor, down from 63 percent just two years ago. Only 43 percent of physician surveys feel they have achieved a return on investment (ROI) concluding that the verdict is still out on the ROI of EHR adoption.
Other survey key findings include:
- 57 percent have started preparing for Meaningful Use Stage 2
- 63 percent of surveyed physician practices is part of a health information exchange
- EHR adoption and implementation represents the most pressing inforamtion technology problem
- 50 percent can access their EHR via tablet or smartphone
- Only 57 percent of EHR adopters report that their systems have made their practices more efficient
- Primary reason some physician practices have not purchased an EHR is they’re too expensive (37 percent)
The full survey finding can be found here
Image credit: Merlin1487 via cc
