Among physicians routinely using health IT for care coordination, at least 54% of them did not receive the information electronically, according to a study published in Medical Care. The study finds that although a higher percentage of physicians using HIT received patient information necessary for care coordination than those who did not use HIT, more than one third did not routinely receive the needed patient information at all.
Study Background
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality researchers conducted a cross-sectional study using 2012 EHR Survey data to examine the extent to which office-based physicians in the United States receive patient health information necessary for care coordination across settings and determine whether receipt of information needed to coordinate care is associated with use of health IT (defined by presence or absence of EHR system and electronic sharing of information).
Key Findings
Key findings of the study include:
– 64% of physicians routinely received the results of a patient’s consultation with a provider outside of their practice
– 46% routinely received a patient’s history and reason for a referred consultation from a provider outside of their practice
– About 54% of physicians reported routinely receiving a patient’s hospital discharge information.
In adjusted analysis, significant differences in receiving necessary information were observed by use of HIT. Compared with those not using health IT, the study found:
– a lower percentage of physicians who used an EHR system and shared patient health information electronically failed to receive the results of outside consultations or patient’s history and reason for a referred consultation
– No significant differences were observed for the receipt of hospital discharge information by use of HIT
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