Few health care providers have adopted an electronic health record system that would meet the requirements of Stage 2 of the meaningful use program, according to a survey released Friday by HHS’ National Center for Health Statistics, Modern Healthcare reports.
Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR systems can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.
Details of Survey
The latest edition of the annual National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey was conducted between February 2013 and June 2013.
The survey — which was conducted by mail and phone — included 10,302 randomly selected physicians.
Survey Findings on EHR Adoption
The survey found that about 78% of respondents reported some use of an EHR system in 2013.
The use of EHRs increased by about 6.6 percentage points from 2012, according to the survey.
However, the survey found wide variance in EHR adoption among states, ranging from 66% in New Jersey to 94% in Minnesota.
Meanwhile, the adoption rate for a basic EHR system increased from 39.1% in 2012 to 48.1% in 2013, with adoption rates by state ranging from 21% in New Jersey to 83% in North Dakota.
In addition, the survey found that adoption of a “fully functional” EHR system increased from 23.5% in 2012 to 31.1% in 2013.
Survey Findings on Meaningful Use
Sixty-nine percent of physicians surveyed said they intended to participate in the Medicare or Medicaid EHR incentive programs (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 1/20).
However, the survey found that only 13% of office-based physicians said they intend to participate in the program and had an EHR system with the capabilities to meet 14 of the 17 Stage 2 core set objectives.
NCHS noted that the 13% finding could be an overestimate because physicians with EHR systems supporting 14 core objectives still could fail to meet the remaining requirements to receive an incentive payment (Pittman, “The Gupta Guide,” MedPage Today, 1/17).
Meanwhile, 11.8% of respondents said they have no plans to participate in the meaningful use program (Bresnick, EHR Intelligence, 1/20).
DeSalvo Touts Survey Findings
In a “Health IT Buzz” blog post, National Coordinator for Health IT Karen DeSalvo said she is “encouraged” by the survey’s findings on EHR adoption.
She wrote, “We continue to see progress in improving the nation’s health care system, and a key tool to helping achieve that goal is the increased use of electronic health records by the nation’s doctors, hospitals and other health care providers.”
DeSalvo noted that the “deadline to begin attesting for meaningful use Stage 2 is October 2014 for the earliest adopters of meaningful use Stage 1,” adding, “[S]o more than one in 10 physicians decided on their own to participate meaningful use Stage 2 capabilities more than a year earlier than necessary.” She wrote, “Overall, we are encouraged to see that physician adoption of EHRs meeting meaningful use Stage 2 is increasing significantly and that physicians are recognizing the value of EHRs in the care setting” (DeSalvo, “Health IT Buzz,” 1/17). Source
