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The Percentage of Office-Based Doctors with EHRs

10 Responses

1. Christopher, on January 27, 2014 at 3:27 PM said:

   eHRs

   I suspect we are reaching an inflection point, and the trend will turn down shortly.

   Christopher

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2. Hiram, on January 28, 2014 at 6:08 PM said:

   Percent of Primary Care Practices Using Electronic Health Records, By Practice Characteristics

   * Has arrangements to share resources with other practices 83%
   * No arrangements 59%
   * Part of an integrated system 87%
   * Not part of an integrated system 63%
   * Eligible for financial incentives 76%
   * Not eligible for incentives 65%
   * 20+ physicians in practice 90%
   * Solo practice 49%

   Source: The CommonWealth Fund

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3. Hope Rachel Hetico RN MHA, on January 31, 2014 at 3:19 PM said:

   New EHR Data Brief Takes a Closer Look at EHR Participation

   This week, CMS released a new data brief outlining how medical providers are progressing with participation in the Medicare and Medicaid EHR program.

   http://www.cms.gov/eHealth/ListServ_EHRDataBrief.html

   This article took a closer look at the EHR Data Brief, and highlights progress as the fourth year of the program begins.

   Any thoughts?

   Hope Rachel Hetico RN MHA

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4. DK Pruitt DDS, on September 12, 2014 at 11:43 AM said:

   Redemption again

   “Dr. Keith Smith of Surgery Center of Oklahoma explains why government-controlled Electronic Medical Records do not benefit patients but rather line the pockets of the crony capitalists who helped write ObamaCare and the HITECH Act hidden in the 2009 ARRA ‘stimulus.’”

   Have you ever wondered why the ARRA was passed as a jobs bill rather than attached to healthcare law?

   Dr. Smith offers an increasingly important warning for doctors and patients I first mentioned years ago – HIPAA has always been more about digital micromanagement of doctor/patient decisions for power and profit than about portability of insurance.

   I like to think Dr. Smith’s open rebellion is additional proof that I’m not the garden-variety conspiracy nut everyone assumed. I was just way too early to be cool.

   DK Pruitt DDS

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5. Hope R. Hetico RN MHA, on October 27, 2014 at 5:20 PM said:

   Dissociate EMRs from Billing

   Here’s how to do it.

   http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2014/10/dissociate-emrs-billing-heres.html

   An essay by David Mann MD.

   Hope R. Hetico RN MHA

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6. Ann Miller RN MHA, on December 30, 2014 at 2:50 AM said:

   2015 Could Be Key Year For Electronic Health Records Program?

   Politico reports that widespread dissatisfaction with the Administration’s “$30 billion” effort to digitize health records combined with a “hungry new Congress” could pose a threat to the program. While “many believe digital health will eventually bring huge benefits, physicians have seen few of them to date,” and with the government set to cut payments to those not significantly adopting such records, “physician groups are fighting mad.”

   Next year “promises to be a critical year for determining whether electronic health records will enable physicians to communicate with each other efficiently to create better care,” and if they “can’t get their systems to interact, the program may be seen as largely a waste.”

   Source: Arthur Allen
   Politico.com via The Daily [12/29/14]

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7. Ann Miller RN MHA, on January 21, 2015 at 10:25 PM said:

   EHR Use Does Not Result in Coordinated Care

   Although more than 70 percent of U.S. doctors use electronic health records, up to half don’t routinely receive the data necessary to coordinate patient care effectively. That is the conclusion of a study published in Medical Care. “The study findings highlight the continuing challenges to using health information technology to coordinate care among providers,” said lead author Chun-Ju Hsiao, of the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

   Doctors using Health Information Technology (HIT) were only slightly more likely to receive the necessary information than those who did not use HIT. For example, 48 percent of physicians who used HIT routinely received information on patients referred from other practices, compared to 40 percent of those who did not use HIT. Using HIT did not significantly affect receipt of hospital discharge information. Even among physicians who routinely received the needed information, many were still getting it by fax or other non-electronic means. This was the case for three-fourths of doctors receiving information from other practices, and about half of those receiving hospital discharge information.
   
   Source: Greg Goth, Health Data Management [1/19/15]

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8. Darrell Pruitt DDS, on April 13, 2015 at 3:32 PM said:

   Healthcare’s dirty little secrets about EHRs

   “Two Dirty Little Secrets About Electronic Health Records – Here are two dirty little secrets about electronic health records (EHR). Just about everyone in the field already knows these secrets, and many are quietly horrified, but few want to discuss them since there are no obvious or easy solutions.”

   Larry Husten – Forbes
   [April 12, 2015]

   http://www.forbes.com/sites/larryhusten/2015/04/12/two-dirty-little-secrets-about-electronic-health-records/

   EHRs Are a Threat to Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom:

   “Like many other EHR companies, Epic requires hospitals and physicians to sign a non-dispargement agreement, or ‘gag’ clause.”

   Electronic Health Records Are Not Even Electronic Health Records

   “That is to say, electronic health records were not designed with the primary goal of helping physicians and other healthcare workers provide the best possible healthcare to their patients. Instead, the primary goal of EHRs is to make sure that healthcare providers receive maximum reimbursement and to provide data to executives to help them ‘manage’ their workers and their systems.” Husten adds, “EHRs have not been designed by doctors and nurses and patients for the use of doctors and nurses and patients. Instead, these systems have been designed for healthcare executives to manage their enormously and increasingly unwieldy and complex systems.”
   

   Doctors question the benefits of EHRs

   “Despite Increased Use of Electronic Medical Records, Fewer U.S. Doctors Believe It Improves Health Outcomes, Accenture Survey Shows – CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–A new survey by Accenture (NYSE:ACN) found that most U.S. doctors are more proficient using electronic medical records (EMR) than they were two years ago, but fewer believe that EMR has improved treatment decisions, reduced medical errors or improved health outcomes.”

   http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150413005148/en/Increased-Electronic-Medical-Records-U.S.-Doctors-Improves#.VSvZNvnF9yQ

   “EHRs provide long-term savings and convenience”

   This is standing proof that American Dental Association leaders lie to membership to protect non-dues revenue from sales of The Dental Record – “The only electronic dental record system endorsed by the ADA Business Resources™.”

   ADA News
   [December 6, 2013]
   No byline

   http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2013-archive/december/ehrs-provide-long-term-savings-convenience

   “Even as EHR proficiency rises, enthusiasm dips – Doctors have become better at using electronic health records software in the last two years but, fewer physicians believe EHRs actually improve care.”

   Tom Sullivan
   Executive Editor
   [HIMSS Media for HealthcareIT News]

   http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/even-ehr-proficiency-rises-enthusiasm-dips

   Have I not posted enough discouraging news about EHRs for one day? Not yet:

   Malpractice attorneys like EHRs

   “Lawyers smell blood in electronic medical records – CHICAGO — As electronic medical records (EMRs) proliferate under federal regulations, kludgey workflow processes and patient data entry quality can be problematic. The inherent issues with EMRs — and for the healthcare professionals required to learn them — hasn’t been lost on lawyers, who see the potential for millions of dollars in judgments for plaintiffs suing for medical negligence.”

   Lucas Mearian
   ComputerWorld.com
   [April 13, 2015]

   http://www.computerworld.com/article/2909348/lawyers-smell-blood-in-electronic-medical-records.html

   Darrell Pruitt DDS

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9. Darrell Pruitt DDS, on June 5, 2015 at 1:43 PM said:

   Mandated EHRs, the NSA and privacy

   “[A] liberal is someone who doesn’t care what you do, as long as it’s mandatory” – Charles Krauthammer

   “Charles Krauthammer: Electronic health records: Why doctors quit, Chapter 2,” was posted in the Washington Post yesterday.

   http://www.montereyherald.com/opinion/20150604/charles-krauthammer-electronic-health-records-why-doctors-quit-chapter-2

   Krauthammer concludes:

   “Yes, in principle, vast record-collection will create mass databases that in theory could be mined to help administrators, and perhaps even to yield medical insights. But it is somewhat ironic that with incessant complaints about NSA collection of telephone metadata — as of last Sunday, now banned in these United States — as an assault on privacy and civil liberties, we seem not at all disturbed by the current amassing of mountains of medical data about you and your insides, a literal and far more intrusive invasion of the self.

   My argument is simple. If electronic records are such a great boon — as I believe they eventually will be — they will be adopted over time as the benefits begin to exceed costs. Let the market work. Let doctors breathe. And while you’re at it, drop the Medicare penalty.”

   Darrell Pruitt DDS

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10. Editor, on January 10, 2018 at 3:57 PM said:

    Allscripts to Acquire Practice Fusion

    Allscripts recently announced it will acquire Practice Fusion EHR in a $100 million cash deal in an effort to further expand its reach into ambulatory care settings.

    Practice Fusion and its EHR technology will complement Allscripts existing ambulatory clinical portfolio as a value offering to accommodate under-served clinicians in small and individual physician practices. Established in 2005, Practice Fusion currently supports 30,000 ambulatory practices and assists providers with 5 million patients visits per month.

    Source: Kate Monica, EHR Intelligence [1/8/18]

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