CDC Reports Rise In EMR Usage
Use of electronic medical records systems is growing among office physicians and medical practices, but the adoption rate for comprehensive systems remains unchanged.
Those are among the findings announced last week in a report on 2006 EMR usage for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics gathered the information as part of its annual National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey.
According to CDC’s report, 28.2 percent of office-based physicians said they use full or partial EMR systems. That usage rate represents a 22 percent increase from 2005 and a 60 percent boost since 2001, when the survey first included questions on EMR. As for medical practices, 25.9 percent reported using some form of EMR system, a 42 percent increase compared with usage in 2005.
“These estimates show recent progress toward the goal of universal electronic health records,” the CDC report states.
The CDC research, however, did not find any meaningful uptick in the use of comprehensive EMR systems. CDC defines such systems as those having computerized orders for prescriptions, computerized orders for tests, reporting of test results and clinical notes.
The percentage of physicians using comprehensive EMR systems grew to 12.4 percent in 2006 versus 9.3 percent in 2005, but CDC described that increase as not statistically significant. The percentage of medical practices employing comprehensive EMR systems did not change during that period, CDC said.
The study suggested that physicians will continue to snap up EMR systems in the coming years. About a quarter of the physician respondents without an EMR system planned to deploy the technology within the next three years. And 31 percent of physicians using partially-electronic systems planned to replace those systems within three years, CDC said.
About the Author
John Moore is a freelance writer based in Syracuse, N.Y. You can reach him at editor@govhealthit.com.