EHR Interoperability Still Posing Problems for Providers

Written by Ronny Bachrach on August 26, 2015. Posted in Digital Radiography and PACS, E.H.R., Software

Health care providers are always looking for ways to enhance patient care and satisfaction, and former President George W. Bush and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services believed that electronic health records were the answer. However, as the organization works toward finalizing Stage 3 of the Meaningful Use program, some providers are not finding EHR software as beneficial as they were led to believe.

EHR issues affecting patient care
All new programs have their issues, and EHR software is no different. According to a 2014 survey of 940 physicians from the American Medical Association and AmericanEHR Partners, only 34 percent of respondents reported they were happy with their current platforms. More than 70 percent of physicians thought their software's ability to reduce workloads was difficult to use, and 42 percent found it hard to improve efficiency using the EHR program.

"While EHR systems have the promise of improving patient care and practice efficiency, we are not yet seeing those effects," said Shari Erickson, vice president of the American College of Physicians' division of governmental affairs and medical practice. "We need to focus on figuring out how we can help physicians and practices to more effectively implement and use these systems."

EHR interoperability has been difficult to achieve both externally and internally, EHR Intelligence explained. With the number of patients each doctor sees along with the ones that are shared by physicians, there is a need for a simplified process for transmitting information. If certain health care providers are not part of the hospital's network, they do not have access to complete medical records, the director of the Advocate Contact Center Jennifer DeBruler told the source. This requires doctors and nurses to call their peers to obtain access or to have the necessary documentation sent over, which hinders patient care.

Some providers seeing improvements in EHR operability
While dissatisfaction with EHR software may be high among some health care providers, it may be there for a reason. The researchers from the AMA and AmericanEHR Partners believed the time spent with the platforms may play a significant role in contentment with the program. Generally, physicians are happier with EHR software, while specialists are finding them more difficult to implement. This may be because health care providers had an additional year to adapt to their EHR systems. It can take up to three years to fully work out the initial issues.

In fact, a survey from Black Book Rankings found that despite these previous reports, only 18 percent of providers are planning to replace their EHR software in the next year. Approximately 71 percent of these respondents said their EHR vendors are adequately or exceedingly meeting their needs, and 82 percent have seen improvements in their finances and operations. This is a significant increase from the 2013 report, in which 92 percent of groups were dissatisfied with their EHR platforms.

"Meaningful use deadlines, total integration and reliable delivery may have influenced large group practice buyers to purchase initial EHRs from 2010 through 2013, but replacement buyers sought better EHR tools in 2014 that include patient engagement, true interoperability, enhanced usability and productivity gains," Doug Brown, managing partner of Black Book, told EHR Intelligence. "There was also a measurable shift in loyalty to vendors that offered a robust, core EHR to accommodate evolving reforms." 

Despite improving satisfaction, there are still issues that EHR vendors will need to work out before seeing contentment across the sector.

Contact Viztek for more information.

Ronny Bachrach

Ronny Bachrach

Marketing Director at Viztek LLC
Responsible for all marketing activities including, press, advertising, trade show coordination, website management, dealer and customer communications.
Ronny Bachrach
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