Dive Brief:
- A new survey by the CDC has concluded that the rate of EHR adoption varies widely from state to state.
- Overall, 48% of office-based physicians reported using EHRs in 2013, up from 40% in 2012.
- The three states with the top EHR adoption rates are North Dakota (83%), Minnesota (76%) and Massachusetts (70%). Meanwhile, however, many states are lagging far behind, such as Connecticut (30%), New Jersey (21%) and Washington, D.C. (31%).
Dive Insight:
The CDC researchers note that it's unclear why there is such a disparity between state EHR adoption rates. However, it's very important that we figure out what's causing these disparities; after all, our ultimate goal as a health system is to bring the level of EHR use as close to 100% as possible. We do know that primary care practices are nearly twice as likely to adopt EHRs as specialists. Perhaps redoubling our efforts to get more primary care physicians on EHRs is a place to start.