EHR adoption tops 90% for Mass. primary and specialty care providers

EHR adoption among Massachusetts primary care and specialty care providers is over 90 percent, according to a study from the Massachusetts eHealth Institute (MeHI).

Concurrently, health information exchange (HIE) is on the radar for the majority of providers. Overall, 26 percent of providers are reporting they are participating in an HIE and 68 percent of those currently not connected are planning to participate in one. Despite this progress, more work needs to be done to implement and optimize health IT, the study found.

To increase health IT across all points of the care continuum, the report authors suggest that more focus is needed on EHR adoption among behavioral health and long-term and post-acute care organizations. This sector has an adoption rate of 55 percent, according to the report.

Also, study authors wrote that providers should harness health IT to engage patients and help them become more involved in their own care.

The study will help inform MeHI's two programs, with one focusing on health IT adoption in the behavioral health and long-term care sectors and the other program supporting work with stakeholders to support the effective use of EHRs, HIEs and other technologies.

“W]hile the Commonwealth as a whole has made significant progress with EHR and HIE adoption, more work is ahead to realize technology’s full potential to support Massachusetts health reform. For Massachusetts’ healthcare providers, consumers, payers and regulators, that’s a reality we cannot afford to ignore--and a reality that will drive the action agenda of MeHI for years to come,” the institute concluded.

Read the report here.