ONC sponsors journal issue on health IT

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT sponsored the new issue of Health Services Research, and used the publication to focus on health IT adoption and progress.

A study by ONC officials examined progress made by the 62 regional extension centers (RECs) tasked with helping 100,000 healthcare providers meet Meaningful Use (MU) criteria. The RECs have recruited nearly 134,000 primary care physicians, about 44 percent, from 2010 to June 2013, according to the study. Most (86 percent) primary care physicians working with RECs used EHRs with advanced functionality; and almost half (48 percent) have demonstrated MU.

Another study in the issue focuses on the sharing of public health information between local and state health departments. Researchers from Weil Cornell Medical College and the College of Health and Human Services at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte found several data-sharing gaps: 34 percent of local health departments experienced a data-sharing gap for immunizations; 69.8 percent experienced a gap for vital records; and 81.8 percent experienced a gap for reportable conditions.

A Commonwealth Fund study on health IT adoption rates among primary care physicians from 2009 to 2012 found that EHR adoption increased from 46 percent to 69 percent during the timeframe. There continues to be a digital divide, however, with 90 percent of practices with 20 or more physicians having adopted EHRs compared to just half of solo physician practices.

Rainu Kaushal, MD, director of the Center for Healthcare Informatics and Policy and a professor of medical informatics at Weill Cornell Medical College, and David Blumenthal, MD, former national coordinator for health IT and current president of the Commonwealth Fund, wrote that more studies are needed to examine the "organizational, environmental and financial factors" that affect health IT, as well as health IT's effect on "quality, efficiency and patient safety."