CDC report covers significant increase in EHR adoption
In case there was any doubt, the Meaningful Use program did spur notable health IT adoption, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The report examined EHR data from 2006 through 2011 and noted an increase from 46 percent of hospital emergency departments using EHRs to 84 percent during the timeframe. Outpatient departments went from 29 percent to 73 percent during the same time period.
The $28.1 billion in incentive payments spurred much of this adoption but Meaningful Use Stage 1 was challenging for many of these outpatient departments, according to the report. Only 14 percent of EDs had EHR technology capable of supporting nine Stage 1 objectives in 2011. Physicians and hospitals said that providing reminders for guideline-based interventions was the most challenging objective.
Read the entire report.
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.