Dive Brief:

• In its annual electronic health records survey, Software Advice found that mobility and patient engagement are important factors in 2014. And providers are continuing to be challenged integrating information from external providers into their systems. Patient portals and e-prescribing were expected to be top the areas of provider health IT investment in the coming years.
• The report found that more than three-quarters of users were still using desktops or laptops for their EHRs, but providers using tablets or smartphones were more satisfied with their systems. Mobile users were less affected by challenges with the software; less challenged with learning the system; and less likely to say productivity was a challenge than non-mobile users.
• The biggest challenge for providers continues to be interoperability. More than half of the respondents said sharing information with other providers is a "major" or "moderate" challenge. Almost half also reported that EHRs continue to reduce their productivity and half also reported that customization was also a challenge.  

Dive Insight:

The study found that providers do plan to continue their investments in EHRs. More than one-quarter plan to increase funding toward this in 2014 and half said they would be spending the at the same levels they do currently. A mere 5% plan to decrease investments. Investment in patient portals and e-prescribing will be high, but there are some areas that providers are shying away from, according to the survey. These include business intelligence, picture archiving and radiology information system functionality. Particularly for smaller practices, things like business intelligence may be deemed a cost-prohibitive investment.