Baltimore – April 17, 2012 – The nation’s healthcare system is accelerating its move toward electronic health records (EHR) and the ability to be able to share medical information electronically, with the number of doctors using electronic records doubling in the last two years, said Dr. Doug Fridsma, director of the Office of Standards and Interoperability of the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC).
“We are making real progress on EHR adoption and we are developing a workforce that is beginning to be trained to support this progress,” Fridsma said at the ICD-10 Summit sponsored by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).
Fridsma cited ONC statistics that in the last two years, the number of primary care physicians using EHRs has doubled from 20 percent to 40 percent. Also since 2009, the number of hospitals adopting the technology has more than doubled from 16 percent to 35 percent. More than 50 percent of doctors are indicating they intend to take advantage of EHRs to get Meaningful Use incentives.
At the same time, ONC is working with a community of stakeholders to create a portfolio of standards and specifications to address different needs and challenges through the Standards & Interoperability Framework, Fridsma said.
However, developing the foundation of interoperable health information exchange is an evolving journey, Fridsma said. “We have to take an incremental approach and ask ourselves as each piece is developed, ‘Is this solution the best we have so far? Is it the logical next step in an incremental approach?’ and not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. When it comes to interoperability, one size will not fit all.”
Still, benefits are already becoming apparent. Providers participating in the Nationwide Health Information Network Exchange, a group of federal agencies and private sector organizations that have implemented the portfolio of standards, service and policies that allow information to be exchanged securely over the Internet, are achieving measurable success. For example, the Social Security Administration is able to process disability claims 45 percent faster when querying for and receiving medical records through the Exchange. Developing ways to exchange information electronically is critical, because as of now, even with EHR use, most doctors and health systems still rely on printers and faxes to exchange patient health information.
Fridsma thanked AHIMA for its leadership and support of global standards development efforts in creating standards for the international community.
“AHIMA is leading the way both in the U.S. and internationally as standards are developed to make health information exchange possible,” said AHIMA CEO Lynne Thomas Gordon, MBA, RHIA, FACHE. “Our members are on the forefront of implementing these changes that will lead to better health information and ultimately better patient care.”
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About AHIMA
Representing more than 64,000 specially educated Health Information Management professionals in the United States and around the world, the American Health Information Management Association is committed to promoting and advocating for high quality research, best practices and effective standards in health information and to actively contributing to the development and advancement of health information professionals worldwide. AHIMA’s enduring goal is quality healthcare through quality information. www.ahima.org.
