More doctors are using electronic health records in their practice, despite problems with a federal program that pays them to adopt the technology.
In 2014, about 74 percent of office-based physicians have a certified system, up from 67 percent in 2013, according to survey results recently by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, the problem is only 32 percent of such doctors with a record system were sharing patient information with other healthcare providers.
Back in 2010, the federal government created a “meaningful use” program that was intended to get doctors to adopt and use electronic health records as a way to improve patient care.
The goal was to ensure medical info is readily available to doctors and hospitals, particularly in cases when someone needs medical care when they’re out of state.
But doctors have complained that it is difficult to meet the program’s requirements. Lawmakers even pushed for the administration to delay the third stage of the program, which the administration declined to do.
In 2010, the federal government began certifying record systems that could meet the program’s meaningful use criteria.
While adoption overall is rising, it differs significantly by state, the survey found. Alaska had the lowest adoption rate at 58 percent, and Minnesota the highest with 88 percent, the survey noted.
The same goes for whether doctors have a system that can share health information with other providers. Only about 17 percent of systems in New Jersey can do that, as opposed to nearly 60 percent in North Dakota, the CDC said.
The data was based on responses to CDC’s National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and had a sample of 10,302 physicians from across the country.
