Nine pct of US doctors use best e-records - study

By Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - About a quarter of U.S. doctors use electronic health records to record basic patient information but just 9 percent have advanced features like electronic prescriptions, a study issued on Wednesday found.

The researchers at George Washington University and Massachusetts General Hospital also found that doctors practicing alone or in small groups were less likely to use electronic records than those who work in larger settings.

Proponents say the digital records are portable and easily accessible, which could lead to better diagnosis and faster care with fewer mistakes. President George W. Bush has called for all Americans to have them by 2014.

David Blumenthal, head of Massachusetts General Hospital's Institute for Health Policy and co-author of the new research, said surveys show about 3 percent of health care providers are adopting electronic records yearly. At that rate, about 50 to 60 percent of health providers will have them by 2014.

That's below the president's goal, said Blumenthal, "but I'd argue not bad."

The analysis published online for the journal Health Affairs covered 36 surveys conducted between 1995 and 2005 by academics, U.S. agencies, advocacy groups and others.

The researchers found that nearly 24 percent of doctors use electronic records for basic patient information. Nine percent have more advanced systems that allow them to electronically write prescriptions, type patient notes and record laboratory test results.

Most experts agree medical records with such interactive capabilities can help improve efficiency and prevent medical mistakes, but implementing them can be costly and disruptive.

Some critics argue that current systems lack effective privacy controls to protect patient information. Others also say the government needs to provide more funding push implementation.

Researchers found that information about doctor use was clearer than data on hospitals.

Also, a large number of previous studies cited by the authors failed to clearly define use -- whether doctors and hospitals simply bought electronic systems but did not use them much or actively employed the technology to care of patients.

The study was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the U.S. National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at the Department of Health and Human Services.

Dozens of companies offer health record software, including Microsoft Corp, General Electric Co.'s GE Healthcare, and McKesson Corp. Companies that make computer hardware, such as Hewlett Packard Co, Lenovo Group Ltd and Dell Inc., are also likely to benefit from adoption of the technology.