Electronic health record (EHR) adoption rate continues to rise in the United States with many hospitals and physician practices progressing strongly towards meaningful use and the implementation of this system. Even with the growing rates of implementation, clinician dissatisfaction remains a prominent issue.
As per Physician Practice 2014 Technology survey, EHR implementation continues to be the most critical technology issue for physician practices. Reports suggest that about 17% of practices reveal that adoption and implementation of this system is a critical issue, about 16% say it lacks interoperability while 13% quote implementation cost and use of new technology as a problem.
The survey results found that more than 50% of practices had already implemented this digital health record system and were satisfied with the same. About 20% don’t have an EHR at all and another 10% are in the process of installing the same. Those practices that have not yet implemented this system plan to launch the same within 12 months. The other two thirds have several reasons for holding out from the implementation process and these include –
- 25% find it too expensive
- About 16% are not able to find an EMR that perfectly suits their specific needs
- 11% have heard too many horror stories
- 13% are struggling to get buy-in from all providers
The role of EMR becomes crucial with the reimbursement practices changing and shifting towards value-based models. In addition, the transition process from ICD-9 to ICD-10 medical codes will be more challenging without this system, and in general having an EMR can improve the medical billing and reimbursement process as well.
EHR implementation will also offer several benefits in the clinical side such as reduced prescription errors and the need to reorder lab tests. It can enhance patient compliance by providing physicians with the right tools to educate patients and give them summaries of their care and treatment plan.
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