78% of American Favor EMR, Finally

In one of the most methodologically rigorous studies to date on health information technology, NORC at the University of Chicago has found that Americans favor use of electronic medical records (EMRs) by a wide margin (78 percent). The results of the NORC study are important because they appear to show popular support for initiatives of President George W. Bush in 2004 and President Barack Obama in 2009 to assure that all Americans have EMRs by 2014. The findings were published in the February edition of the journal, HSR: Health Services Research. Other findings showed that • 78 percent of Americans believe EMRs could improve care • 59 percent believe EMRs could reduce health costs • 72 percent support sharing of health care information among providers • 80 percent favored use of e-prescribing (sending prescriptions electronically from the physician to the pharmacy) • 79 percent thought that personal health records (an electronic record designed specifically for consumers to access over the web) would help patients to be better informed about their health. • Despite the fact that 48 percent of Americans are concerned about the privacy of medical records, fully 64 percent said that the benefits of EMRs outweigh privacy concerns

80% of Physicians Lack EHRs

Are you kidding me, almost 6 years ago I worked on a EHR for Highmark a BCBS out of Pittsburgh, to say it was cutting edge at the time is an understatement. Not sure what the resistance is, they get money back if they invest and I am pretty sure it is mandated to be done by this year. People want to manage their own records, give permissions to their doctors, parents, loved ones, insurance companies, this really is one place that our government should be focusing more energy.

Here is the story from Health Informatics;

The United States is spending considerably less on networking and information technology research than is suggested by official tallies and would benefit from both a larger investment and improved long-term strategic planning in this crucial field of research, according to an independent recent report released by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), a group of presidentially appointed experts from academia, non-governmental organizations, and industry.

The report, “Designing a Digital Future: Federally Funded Research and Development in Networking and Information Technology,” examines the Nation’s Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Program. That 19-year-old program, which encompasses work in more than a dozen Federal agencies, is the primary mechanism by which the Federal government coordinates its investments in unclassified networking and information technology research and development. PCAST examined both the coordinating program and the NITRD research portfolio itself.

The PCAST report found that EHR adoption is nowhere near its potential and will actually require more investment of time and resources, even more than the $27 billion already allocated. The report also found that up to 80 percent of physicians lack even some of the simplest electronic records and those that have been created, are limited in functionality.

The report finds that advances in networking and information technology (NIT) have been key drivers of economic competitiveness and have accelerated the pace of discovery in virtually every area of science and technology. It calls for robust funding of NIT research and development to continue that trend. But it finds that a substantial fraction of the NITRD spending reported by participating agencies is apparently being allocated to activities other than NIT research and development, such as the creation of information technology products and infrastructure expansion in support of research in other fields. Although these activities are valuable, the report concludes, the result is that far less than the $4 billion-plus indicated in the Federal budget is actually being invested in NIT research and development—the important, early-stage innovative work that will be crucial to addressing critical priorities and challenges in the years ahead.