Medical Groups' Adoption of Electronic Health Records and Information Systems

We surveyed a nationally representative sample of medical group practices to assess their current use of information technology (IT). Our results suggest that adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) is progressing slowly, at least in smaller practices, although a number of group practices plan to implement an EHR within the next two years.  Benefits of implementing an EHR include improved access to medical record information, workflow, patient communications, and accuracy for coding evaluation and management procedures.  For those both with and without EHRs, the top five barriers were related to aspects of costs and to concern about physicians' support and ability to use the new system.  Overall, the process of choosing and implementing an EHR appears to be more complex and varied than we expected. This suggests a need for greater support for practices, particularly smaller ones, in this quest if the benefits expected from EHRs are to be realized.