EHR Adoption And Your Medical Practice
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According to a report by the National Center for Health Statistics, 78% of physicians and medical groups are now using an Electronic Health Records (EHR) platform. This is a dramatic increase from just 35% in 2007. The US medical field is finally entering the 21st century and much of this momentum is due to federal government incentives. Even before the passage of the ACA in 2009, the Feds had been pushing these technological advances for more than a decade.
According to the report, physicians over the age of 65 saw more than a 30% increase in EHR adoption which is a positive sign that medicine has truly entered a new age. Dr. David Blumenthal, president of the Commonwealth Fund stated that he has "absolutely no question that there will be a payoff in terms of patient care."
When health care providers first began their transition to EHR systems, three out of four attempts failed. Challenges to implementation include a practice's lack of financial resources and staffing, and a dearth of technological expertise. An ever increasing factor to this uptick in EHR usage is the outsourcing to third party vendors and consultants. Vendors can often speed the transition process while lowering overall risk to a medical group's revenue.
