By Christina Orlovsky, senior staff writer
The government’s efforts to bring the United States into the
age of health information technology have failed to lure a significant
percentage of hospitals and physicians toward computerized systems, a new survey
said.
A recent report released by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) found that less than one-third of the nation’s hospital
emergency and outpatient departments use electronic medical records, and even
fewer doctors’ offices do.
The report, which came out of the CDC’s ambulatory medical
care surveys conducted from 2001 to 2003, found that 31 percent of hospital
emergency departments, 29 percent of outpatient departments and 17 percent of
doctors’ offices use electronic medical records.
The study also looked at the use of computerized physician
order entry systems for prescription drugs and diagnostic tests and found that
only 8 percent of physicians use such systems. Younger physicians, age 50 and
younger, were twice as likely as older physicians to use a computerized system.
“The encouragement for the adoption of electronic medical
records and computerized physician order entry systems is to improve the care
that patients receive,” said study co-author Esther Hing, survey statistician
for the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.
Hing explained that computerized physician order entry systems
have been found to reduce medication errors, while electronic medical records
facilitate communication among health care providers.
“There are a lot of pluses to these systems, but the barriers
to implement them are largely the costs,” she said.
“It’s very expensive for a hospital, let alone a physician
group or individual physician, to purchase a new system,” she explained, adding
that the learning curve and providers’ reluctance to change are also
considerations.
“Whenever any new computer software is introduced, there are a
lot of anxious users. Doctors are no different,” she said. “There can be some
real glitches with the systems, but they’re all being worked out with
experience. It’s a hard way, but you don’t even get to that point unless someone
makes a business case in the hospital or physician office to make that step.”
In 2004, President George W. Bush encouraged health care
providers to take that important step by announcing a “Decade of Health
Information Technology” and creating a new government position of National
Coordinator for Health Information Technology—a role filled by David Brailer,
M.D., Ph.D. Brailer commented on the results of the CDC survey:
“While national adoption rates for health information
technology are slowly climbing, we are seeing a widening gap between larger
hospitals and physician groups and their smaller counterparts,” he said.
“Physicians and providers face many barriers to adopting health information
tools. We need to create incentives for providers to adopt electronic medical
records and ensure the products they buy will do the job.”
While Hing believes that the nation will eventually adopt the
new technology, she asserted that it may take longer than a decade.
“The goal of 10 years is incredibly optimistic,” she said.
“When you have a new technology, there’s a diffused progression of that
technology. At a certain point, the enthusiasm might potentially speed up, but
we’re at the beginning stage. It just takes time.”
For more information, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site, or click here to read “Transforming Health Care: The President's Health Information Technology Plan.”
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