News: 2017 EHR benchmarking survey released

HIM Briefings, a sister publication of ACDIS, published the findings from their 2017 EHR Benchmarking Survey this week. Overall, the survey found an increased use of EHR systems over the previous survey conducted in 2015. In fact, no respondents reported using only paper health record systems and 47% reported using a hybrid system, down from 58% in 2015.

Not including scanned documents in the medical record, 32% of the survey respondents said they create 81-99% of the medical record electronically and only 21% said they create 61-80% electronically. These numbers also show a swing in the EHR direction over the 2015 survey.

In some cases, facilities still need to print out a document, complete it, and scan it back into the record. In these cases, the survey found that only 41% of respondents use an electronic document management system (EDMS) to capture 100% of the medical record, including any scanned documents.

There were 44% of survey respondents who reported being “somewhat satisfied” with their EHR’s ability to enhance patient care. This number remains consistent with previous survey finding. Additionally, 42% of respondents said the physicians at their facility fully use the EHR, including for dictation. This was the first year the survey explored such a question.

Perhaps one reason more than half of physicians resist using the EHR fully, according to EHRIntelligence, could be the time needed to use the system. According to another study conducted by Health Affairs this month, physicians spend more time in the EHR than they do on face-to-face patient care.

In terms of correct reimbursement for the physicians, the researchers conducting the Health Affairs survey believe the value-based payment systems move in the correct direction. Any new federal incentives will need to address the demands of new EHR technology on physicians’ time, according to EHRIntelligence.