EHR use and compliance with meaningful use measures continue to rise

More physicians are using electronic health records (EHRs) generally and in the specific ways mandated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' meaningful use objectives, according to two recent surveys.

The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics recently found that the percentage of physicians using EHRs increased from 48% in 2009 to 72% in 2012, according to a press release from the Department of Health and Human Services.

The National Electronic Health Records Survey expands on those findings by assessing office-based physician adoption of specific meaningful use measures. Use of e-prescribing has risen from 38% of physicians in 2009 to 55% in 2011 and 73% today. Computerized order entry for medication orders rose from 45% in 2009 to 80% in 2012. While still lower, the percentage of physicians that can provide patients with clinical summaries of their visits saw a particularly steep increase between 2011 and 2012—from 38% to 56%.

The survey assessed attainment of 13 of the 15 Stage 1 meaningful use objectives, and found that more than half of physicians met at least 12 of them in 2012. Computerized clinical quality measures was the only measure on which the survey respondents fell short of that mark; 43% of surveyed physicians reported computer recording of these measures. At least two-thirds of physicians met nine of the 13 objectives.

The report also looked at some Stage 2 objectives. The ability to exchange secure messages with patients substantially increased, from 28% of physicians in 2011 to 40% in 2012. Viewing of imaging results through electronic technology has grown more slowly than other functionalities, the report noted, but 59% of physicians are now able to do that, compared to 50% in 2009.

“These findings represent important national progress toward the goals of improving health and health care through the use of advanced health information technology,” the report from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information technology concluded.