Healthcare Technology Featured Article

February 10, 2010

Healthcare Technology and News: Doctors Increase Use of Electronic Health Records: Report


Thanks to the ever-changing healthcare technology landscape, U.S. patients are reportedly seeing an increase in the number of doctors that are using Electronic Health Record systems, according to a new survey.
 
The survey, by GfK Roper, found that 48.4 percent of respondents reported that during their last visit to a primary care physician or specialist, the doctor stored their medical records digitally on a computer in the exam room instead of paper charts. And for those patients whose doctors already used a computer to store medical records, 45.2 percent said their doctor switched to an electronic system during the previous two years whereas 14.3 percent said the switch occurred in the last six months.
 
Patients whose doctors did not use a computer had mixed feelings about whether physicians should adopt the technology. In all, 38.4 percent of respondents said their doctors should  "go digital," while 32.7 percent did not and 28.9 percent were unsure.
 
What’s more, 52.8 percent of women compared to 43.7 percent of men reported EHR use by their doctors, the report said.
 
GfK Roper conducted the survey for Practice Fusion, a fast-growing EHR community. The results come as lawmakers mark the one year anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, an economic stimulus packaged signed into law last February. The act includes federal tax cuts, the expansion of unemployment benefits and social welfare provisions as well as and domestic spending in healthcare, education, and infrastructure.
  
"ARRA's $19 billion for health information technology has effectively created a black swan,”  Ryan Howard, CEO of Practice Fusion, said. “During a deep recession, the health IT sector is booming and how we think about health data is being fundamentally redefined. I see the change in the exponential growth of our company. Doctors see it through the availability of innovative new technology. Educators see it through grants and the creation of new health IT courses. Patients see it in their doctor's office."
 
The survey also found that the widespread expansion of the health IT sector, demand for an estimated 100,000 new jobs, creation of higher education programs and signs of disruptive innovation.

Amy Tierney is a Web editor for HealthTechZone, covering business communications Her areas of focus include conferencing, SIP, Fax over IP, unified communications and telepresence. Amy also writes about education and healthcare technology, overseeing production of e-Newsletters on those topics as well as communications solutions and UC. To read more of Amy's articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Amy Tierney
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