Here’s another study on the adoption of electronic medical records, of which the question should be asked, “Is this the best we can do?”
In a previous post I pointed to a Kaiser Foundation study that showed an American public that is more than ready for physicians to enter the digital age by investing in electronic medical records. In an EMR pilot project for the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, it was reported that their best results in promoting EMRs was at most 31 percent.
Now, thanks to a UPI press report, we learn of a Millennium Research Group study that estimates the “nearly 18% of physicians had an electronic medical record (EMR) system in 2006 and that number is expected to rise to over 30% by 2011.”
By 2011? Given the importance that EMRs play in the evolution many advances we want to see achieved in the health care delivery system, and once again with these kind of relatively weak numbers, one simply has to asked, “are we doing enough?”
From the Millennium study,
“Health information technology is becoming increasingly popular in physician practices because of the growing awareness of the benefits it offers. Government initiatives allowing hospitals to assist their affiliated physicians by donating an EMR system or subsidizing the cost of software, will also fuel demand for EMR systems through 2011. Nevertheless, most non-hospital-affiliated small practices, which represented nearly 70% of all office-based physicians in 2006, will find it difficult to bear the costs of a new purchase and justify the disruption that the implementation process will cause the practice.”
