How common are electronic health records in the United States? A summary of the evidence

• HIT Description: electronic health records (EHRs), CPOE More info...
  
• Purpose of Study: estimate EHR adoption in the US by systematically reviewing existing surveys of EHR adoption and use
  
• Years of study: 1995-2005
  
• Study Design: systematic review
  
• Outcomes: Barriers
  

• Settings: included only those surveys in which the underlying population of interest consisted of physicians, physician group practices or hospitals
• Intervention: systematic review of peer reviewed and non-peer reviewed reports regarding adoption or use of EHRs, abstracted and assessed for quality
• Evaluation Method: abstraction process based on professional standards and best practices developed by the American Association for Public Opinion Research; quality assessment guided by expert consensus regarding best practices, OMB survey clearance process and consultation with experts
• Description: EHR key components include electronic documentation of providers' notes, electronic viewing of laboratory and radiology results and electronic prescribing
• System Penetration: About 24% of physicians use an HER, about 5% have CPOE
• Barriers: Large physician offices were much more likely to have an HER than solo or small physician practices (39% v. 16%)