Good, not-so-good news for EHRs
It’s been a busy month of news related to electronic records from the latest figures associated with Meaningful Use incentive payments to studies showing how EHRs are saving costs and improving screening rates.
As of October, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has distributed just shy of $17 billion in EHR incentive payments to 329,688 unique eligible professionals (EPs) and hospitals, CMS Health Insurance Specialist Robert Anthony reported to the Health IT Policy Committee on Dec. 4. Approximately 85 percent of eligible hospitals have received an incentive payment and more than eight out of ten hospitals have made a financial commitment to an EHR.
In other developments, a study found that displaying lab test costs in an EHR so clinicians can see a real-time price comparison of what they're ordering resulted in decreased ordering rates for certain tests and saved up to $107 per 1,000 visits per month. Lab test utilization also decreased by up to 5.6 lab orders per 1,000 visits per month. For a large physician practice bringing in 20,000 visits per month, the reductions translate to $2,140 per month and more than $25,000 a year.
Another study found that an autism module added to an EHR's clinical decision support system improved screening rates for autism spectrum disorders and helped identify problems at a younger age. Seventy percent of the users in the study agreed that the automation of screening helped them adhere to recommended screening guidelines. Nationwide, children typically aren't screened for autism until they're 4 to 5 years old.
In less positive news, office-based providers continue to report struggles with productivity, workflow and usability related to their use, according to an IDC Health Insights report.
The report reflected views of 212 ambulatory and hospital-based providers. Of the ambulatory providers, 58 percent said they were dissatisfied, very dissatisfied or neutral about their experience with ambulatory EHRs. The two most frequently cited reasons for EHR dissatisfaction involved lost productivity, including increased time on documentation (85 percent) and a drop in the number of patients seen (66 percent).
Has your facility earned its Meaningful Use incentive payment? Are any of the tools helping your organization improve care quality and outcomes or reduce costs? Please share your experience.
Beth Walsh
Clinical Innovation + Technology editor
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.