Children's hospitals jump in EHR adoption
Children’s hospitals have achieved substantial gains in health IT implementation, according to findings published online April 15 in Pediatrics.
Researchers analyzed the responses of children’s hospitals from 2008 to 2011 to the American Hospital Association’s annual health IT survey. EHR adoption rates were determined by using previously specified definitions of the essential functionalities comprising an EHR. Achievement of Meaningful Use was evaluated based on hospitals’ ability to fulfill 12 core Meaningful Use criteria.
The proportion of children’s hospitals with an EHR increased from 21 percent in 2008 to 59 percent in 2011. EHR adoption rates and Meaningful Use were significantly higher for children’s hospitals than for adult hospitals as a whole but similar for children’s and adult major teaching hospitals. Among children’s hospitals, major teaching hospitals were significantly more likely to have an EHR.
Editor
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.