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A new study by Weill Cornell Medical College provides evidence that the use of EHR systems in medical practices does indeed contribute to the improvement of the quality of patient care, particularly in communities that use commercially available systems such as those offered by companies like Acrendo Software, American Medical Software, and TSI Healthcare.
However, for all the benefits that it has brought to healthcare providers, it seems that practices specializing in pediatric healthcare do not fully benefit from the modernization of health records due to certain limitations of the systems currently available.
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In a previous study conducted in 2009 and before the meaningful use incentive program began, only 3% of the respondents at the time used a system that can be described as fully functional and pediatric-supportive. Meanwhile, recent studies by the marketing research firm SK&A show that EHR adoption among pediatricians is at 48.5% and at 61.7% in internal medicine and pediatrics.
Pediatricians complain that of the five basic functions that they need in a fully functional EHR –tracking of well-child visits, support of growth chart analysis, immunization tracking, immunization forecasting, and weight-based drug dosing – the requirement for growth charts support is the only one that can be found in the meaningful use requirements.
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| Image Credit: akronchildrens.org |
There are EHR systems providers which offer customized implementation solutions that support pediatric practices even while it is not required in the meaningful use incentive. However, pediatricians stress the importance of child-specific functions that EHRs should have to address child health needs and are calling for modifications in the incentive program to include criteria that meet the needs of physicians who treat children.
Read more about EHR systems currently available at www.tsihealthcare.com.
