All Entries Tagged With: "EHR"
Cost of electronic health records a deterrent for hospital use
We’ve heard much about electronic health records over the past few months, especially since the U.S. government intends to spend a significant amount of money helping hospital systems install them. And it turns out, an overwhelming majority of hospitals and hospital systems will need that money to even make a foray into the electronic world. The New England Journal of Medicine published a study yesterday that shows that overall, a meager 1.5% of hospitals in the U.S. have a fully functional, top of the line electronic health system. A slightly larger percent (7.6) of hospitals have some sort of EHR functioning in at least one or a few areas, and computer-physician order entry is used by 17% of hospitals.
The main reason that only 1.5% of hospitals are using EHRs is the cost, the article says. Also, those involved in researching the topic think that although there is going to be a lot of money available to help implement more fully-functioning EHRs, the current lack of EHRs will be a significant barrier to moving ahead with healthcare goals that depend electronic health information technology. Interoperability–having EHRs among many hospitals and hospital systems that can talk to each other–is another big concern.
Although this number is a lot lower than I thought, it does not completely surprise me. Most staff members at hospitals with whom I speak either do not have EHRs, or have one for the emergency department, or another department–not for the entire hospital.