Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Replacing the manila folders behind your doctor's reception desk with more efficient and less error-prone electronic health records (EHRs) is a reform endorsed by both Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). But the transition to computer-based systems seems to be going slowly in many quarters.

Only about 4 percent of medical practices have fully integrated electronic systems that can, for example, download a radiologist's written report as well as new X-ray images to compare with older ones on file, found a survey of close to 3,000 U.S. physicians.

Another 13 percent of practices have more basic systems, such as online patient records.

The results were published last week in the online edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The cost of converting to electronic records, which can range from tens of thousands of dollars for small practices to tens of millions for multi-doctor practices at medical centers, is the most obvious barrier, says the study's lead author, Catherine DesRoches, a researcher at the Institute for Health Policy at Harvard. Other barriers: physicians' worries about how much time they'll need to learn a system and how quickly it will become obsolete.

Large local practices that have been quick to install EHRs include those at George Washington University, the Washington Hospital Center, the University of Maryland and Kaiser Permanente.

Expect more practices to come online as EHR firms begin to offer leasing options, says Mark Bard, head of health-care research firm Manhattan Research in New York.

-- Francesca Lunzer Kritz