Dive Brief:
- The AmericanEHR survey, conducted between May and July 2014, found more than half of 940 respondents said EHRs had a negative impact on costs, efficiency and productivity. Only 9% of respondents reported their total practice operating costs decreased from using an EHR system.
- The longer respondents had used their EHR system, the more likely they were to report a positive impact on their practice. More than half of respondents said they started using their EHR system in the past three years. Eighty percent of those expressing dissatisfaction with their system had used it for less than five years.
- Approximately 13% of respondents said they employed scribes to address increased data entry requirements. Half of those who already employed scribes said it had a negative financial impact on their practice.
Dive Insight:
The survey concluded "there is cause for optimism" since those who said they were satisfied with their EHR system were much more likely to report it had a positive impact on a specific aspect of their practice or a specific function was easy to use.
Five EHR vendors provided almost half of EHR software used by the respondents: Epic Systems, Allscripts, eClinicalWorks, NextGen Healthcare, and GE Healthcare.
The choice of an EHR product has a significant impact on perceived satisfaction and return on investment. For example, two vendors with the smallest market share, Practice Fusion and e-MDS, had more satisfied users versus those vendors with the largest market share.
The authors suggest additional or periodic training to assist users and that organizations like the American Medical Association, American College of Physicians, and American Academy of Family Physicians continue to study members' EHR use to encourage refinement of EHR products.