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(Slideshow) Medical Economics EHR survey probes physician angst about adoption, use of technology
So, what’s really driving physician dissatisfaction with EHRs? These data tables guide you through the results of the exclusive Medical Economics survey.
Read the article: Physician outcry on EHR functionality, cost will shake the health information technology sector
Physicians are frustrated with the current state of electronic health record (EHR) technology, according to data from a recently released national survey of nearly 1,000 physicians commissioned by Medical Economics and administered by MPI Group. System functionality and cost are the primary drivers of this sentiment. Interestingly enough, for doctors in practices with 10 or more physicians functionality of the system takes on even greater significance. In fact, 74% of physicians reported it would influence their decision to switch systems, compared to 63% for physicians in solo practices. In addition, about 57% of physicians in solo practice selected cost as a factor in switching EHRs. In contrast, 43% of doctors in practices with 10 or more physicians cited cost as a top influencer.
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Read the article: Physician outcry on EHR functionality, cost will shake the health information technology sector
Nearly 55% of physicians report spending under $100,000 on EHR systems including service, hardware, software, training and consulting. The price increased to $200,000 for 77% of the largest practices. This survey was conducted from November to December 2013.
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Despite government Meaningful Use incentives to adopt EHR systems, 65% of respondents say these systems have resulted in financial losses for their practice. Nearly 38% of the respondents say the losses have been significant, according to the Medical Economics survey.
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These results show the differences between solo and 10+ physician practices in terms of an EHR and its costs. Cost savings to practices were noted by fewer than 20% of respondents overall.
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This survey question sought to gauge the role of EHRs in helping to facilitate quality patient care. While a majority of physicians believe that EHR systems are making patient care worse, a vocal minority, 35%, say the technology has improved patient care. Comments from physician respondents related to use of EHRs and patient care ranged from ease of access of medical records to complaints about an interference with patient/physician communication and increased time to document patient encounters.
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These survey results depict the differences in physician sentiment about EHRs and patient care based on practice size. Note the response differences with doctors representing 10-plus physician practices and those in solo practices.
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Among the promises of EHR technology is to create efficiencies in doctor-to-hospital and doctor-to-doctor communication. While this is an important requirement of the Meaningful Use 2 EHR incentive program from the U.S. government, most doctors say coordination of care with hospitals has not improved from using EHRs.
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About 63% of physicians would not purchase the same EHR system again if given the choice. Dissatisfaction scores increase by practice size as well. In fact, 73% of respondents in 10+ physician practices say they would not purchase the same EHR system again.
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Despite the dissatisfaction scores, 52% of respondents believe their EHR systems will be viable in five years. Family medicine physicians were the most optimistic. In fact, 66% of family physicians remained confident that their EHR system would be viable in the next 5 years.
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Only 25% of respondents were skeptical that their EHR vendor would still be in business over the next 5 years, despite recent consolidation with the health information technology sector.
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When asked to evaluate whether the investment has been worth the effort, resources, and costs, nearly three-quarters of respondents said it hasn’t. Verbatim comments from physicians focused on a multitude of areas including efficiency and the reduction in numbers of patients seen per day, quality of interaction with patients during an encounter, system functionality and design, time to document encounters vs. the benefits of ease of access to patient records, and simplicity of e-prescribing.
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This Medical Economics survey was administered by the research firm MPI Group. Physicians were invited to respond to an online questionnaire during November and December 2013. There were 967 total respondents. The margin of error is approximately +/- 3.2% at a confidence level of 95%. Thirty-two percent of respondents worked in family medicine, 33% were in a specialty/subspecialty outside of primary care, 16% were in internal medicine, and 19% other. In terms of practice size: 32% of the respondents were in solo practices, 35% were in 2-5 physician practices, 13% were in 6-10 physician practices, and 20% were in practices with 10 or more physicians. About 90% of the respondents were physicians, 6% were office managers authorized to answer for the physician, 2% were nurse practitioners or nurses, and 2% were other.
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