EHR Adoption Rises in Large Physician Offices

According to a study from Irvine, Calif.-based healthcare information database and research firm SK&A, a Cegedim Company, recently released its updated "Physician Office Usage of Electronic Health Records Software" report. The report identifies the correlation between office size, number of exam rooms and average daily patient volume with the likelihood of EHR adoption.

The report, which was based on an ongoing telephone survey of 237,562 U.S. medical sites, showed an overall EHR adoption rate of 40.4 percent and revealed the following correlations:

• EHR adoption rises as the number of physicians practicing at each site rises. Offices with one practicing physician had 30.8-percent adoption, while offices with 26-plus practicing physicians had 75.5-percent adoption.
• EHR adoption rises as the number of exam rooms at each site rises. Offices with one exam room had 28.2-percent adoption, while offices with 11-plus exam rooms had 64.1-percent adoption.
• EHR adoption rises as the average daily patient volume at each site rises. Offices with average daily patient volumes of one to 50 patients had 36-percent adoption, while offices with 101-plus patients had 66.1-percent adoption.

Additional findings of the study include EHR adoption rates and growth by software application, site ownership, region, state and practice specialty.

Another ongoing survey by SK&A, EHR Adoption in Medical Offices: Looking Forward, provides deeper insights for EHR adoption and intent; including timeframes for adoption, buying factors, primary decision makers and awareness of government incentives. Key findings in this survey of 40,000 U.S. medical sites include:

• Most physician offices (72.6 percent) have not yet determined a timeline for EHR adoption.
• Cost is the most important buying factor for 16.7 percent of physician offices; however, 70.7 percent have indicated no single main buying factor.
• One-fifth (20.8 percent) of physician offices are unaware of EHR government incentives.