Electronic Medical Records: DOA?
Cost is a major barrier to widespread physician adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs). What's your take, are EMRs DOA? If so, what will be the impact on consumers?
and other companies compete to develop the killer PHR application. Now, however, the Wall Street Journal reports on a study that puts a damper on all of the excitement regarding EMRs.
According to the Journal:
“Only 4% of docs have implemented electronic health records with all the bells and whistles that wonks say will make care safer and more efficient. And only another 13% have implemented electronic records of any sort. The main factor preventing most physicians from adopting EHRs — all together now — is cost.”
The study, which was published
this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, also indicates that physicians believe EMRs “improve the quality of care and are generally satisfied with the systems.”
So far, Microsoft and Google are helping to reduce the cost barriers to PHR adoption by offering the service for free. However, given physicians’ complex needs, these systems cannot be provided gratis.
What’s your take? Are EMRs dead on arrival? Will they ever become a mainstream technology? How will the slow uptake of EMRs influence consumers?
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